PERTH/WASHINGTON, January 6, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari, the respective top players from Greece in men’s and women’s tennis, have started their new seasons very positively in Perth, Australia competing in the fourth edition of the United Cup.
The popular mixed-team event has featured 18 nations competing across six groups in two cities – Sydney, the most populous city in Australia, and Perth, the capital city of Western Australia – home of a thriving Hellenic community of Greek supporters, who have turned out to show their support for both Tsitsipas and Sakkari as well as Team Greece.
Late Monday evening, in the friendly confines of RAC Arena in Perth, both Tsitsipas and Sakkari won their singles matches against opponents from Great Britain – each in three sets – that lifted Greece to their second straight tie triumph and earned advancement into the quarterfinal knock-out stage for the third time in the tournament’s brief history. Tsitsipas rallied to defeat Billy Harris, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4), while Sakkari came on strong at the end to beat Emma Raducanu, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Next up for Greece will be a quarterfinal tie against two-time champion United States on Wednesday.
When there’s a will, there’s a way @mariasakkari defeats Raducanu 6-3 3-6 6-1 to put Team Greece into the quarterfinals. pic.twitter.com/p5NrHZybCl
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 5, 2026
While Tsitsipas dug deep and fought through some early struggles against Harris, ranked 127th, before coming out on top after two hours and 15 minutes, notable for Sakkari was her victory against the 29th-ranked Raducanu marked the first time in five tries that she had prevailed over the former US Open champion.
“Emma, I’ve had four tough losses against her. So, to get that first win against her – against a great opponent – it means a lot, especially delivering for Team Greece,” No. 51 Sakkari said during her on-court interview.
“He has one of the best tennis IQ’s that I’ve ever seen.”
The Team Greece combination we are here for pic.twitter.com/bq5IV3yuNY
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 5, 2026
Earlier, the 36th-ranked Tsitsipas gave props to his fallen opponent, Harris, who was elevated to the men’s No. 1 spot for Great Britain after British No. 1 Jack Draper withdrew from the United Cup last week while still recovering from a bone bruise injury in his left arm that has sidelined him since after last summer’s Wimbledon Championships.
“I would like to congratulate Billy. He put up an incredible performance,” Tsitsipas said during his on-court interview. “I haven’t played such a high quality match in such a long time. He did great, pushing me to my limits. I think matches like that are great for the sport.”
Finds a way ⚡️@steftsitsipas overcomes Harris 4-6 6-1 7-6(4) to give Team Greece a 1-0 lead over Team Great Britain. pic.twitter.com/I3GYMNyEZz
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 5, 2026
Both Tsitsipas and Sakkari have started the 2026 season by winning both of their singles matches. Last Friday, Tsitsipas beat No. 110-ranked Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan in straight sets, while Sakkari surprised four-time major champion and current World No. 16 Naomi Osaka, both in straight sets. They teamed to win their mixed doubles match, too. Indeed, winning has brightened both of their attitudes.
The cherry on top @steftsitsipas and @mariasakkari def. Hibino/Uchiyama 6-2 6-3 to complete the clean sweep for Team Greece. pic.twitter.com/ZAjc9yhBb6
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 2, 2026
Early Tuesday morning, while their Greek teammates Stefanos Sakellaridis and Despina Papamichail substituted for them on court in a superficial mixed doubles rubber, after Greece had already clinched its tie victory with Great Britain and won its group stage, Tsitsipas and Sakkari together shared a nearby interview stage inside RAC Arena for an insightful post-tie news conference.
Both Greek stars, formerly ranked as high as World No. 3, which Sakkari called “a crazy coincidence,” were asked to give their thoughts on their individual matches.
“Personally, I think it was a great win for both of us,” Sakkari began. “It’s never easy to play players, in Stefanos’ case, correct me if I’m wrong, that has nothing to lose, a great player that went out on the court and just played great tennis. But Stefanos showed that he’s an amazing champion.
“For myself, I just feel like I had four losses against [Raducanu], so it was about time to take a win and just feel like I found a way to beat her, because it can play with your mind, it can trick you a lot of times.
“She’s a great player. I’m very happy that my season has started with two great wins.”
Beware the SakkAttack @mariasakkari gives Team Greece the perfect start in Perth. pic.twitter.com/2O0YqufDOc
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 2, 2026
When it was Tsitsipas’ turn to answer the question, he replied, “Actually, it’s more interesting to me to talk about Maria’s match. Why? It’s interesting seeing it from an outside perspective as a supporter. Seeing my match from my own eyes, very different. You get a much clearer view from outside.
“I can imagine how difficult it is for Maria getting into a match like that with Emma. Obviously, not having a good [win-loss] record doesn’t help in that case.
“But I’m really proud of Maria today because she showed incredible determination. She had faith and belief in moments that it’s very easy to kind of lose your shit, excuse my language. I get it as an athlete and tennis player. I get it.
“On that end, she stayed extremely well composed, played in her own terms. I really admire that. That was excellent.”
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Through much of Sakkari’s two-hour, 26-minute tussle against Raducanu, Tsitsipas sat on Team Greece’s bench and offered coaching advice for his teammate to complement her own longtime coach, Tom Hill.
“I think it fits my creativity,” Tsitsipas explained. “It’s one thing playing tennis, it’s another thing seeing it from the outside. It feels different.
“It’s always so much easier when you watch it from outside. You know what I mean? It’s so much easier to give directions, tell someone to do that, do that. [Tennis is] a very psychological sport so you have to understand what the player is feeling – their emotions – what they’re going through. It’s not always giving tactics. Tactics are not always going to be working or reliable.”
Tsitsipas continued: “I don’t want to talk about coaching. As a player, I get Maria’s feelings and I can correlate to the emotions and what you’re going through. I’m just trying to navigate them as smoothly as I possibly can.”
The Tim Tam queen has landed
We will be waiting for the flavour review @mariasakkari pic.twitter.com/Wb3tKwdKtf
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) December 29, 2025
Looking back on Sakkari’s on-court success against Raducanu, which included hitting two aces and 32 winners overall – 18 from the forehand side and 14 backhanded – as well five breaks of serve in 16 chances, Tsitsipas though that his teammate “really showed incredible tennis today, a lot of improvements she has made to her game.” Sakkari outscored her opponent 101-85.
“My whole attention and focus on it was to ‘how can we maximize on the shots?’ The shots are there. She has those shots. ‘How can we utilize those to take them to the maximum?’ She actually did that with brave tennis and going for the kill,” Tsitsipas theorized.
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Sakkari soaked in the admiration from Tsitsipas, then offered a few compliments toward him. “Even now it shows how great his tennis IQ is,” she said, smiling. “It’s incredible. I always played with him. I always spoke to him while we were playing. I always knew he has a great tennis IQ.
“Tom is always there. Just to have a different voice and a voice like from Stef, who is one of the best players in the world, it’s amazing. I’m so grateful honestly. Thank you for today. It really means a lot.”
Tsitsipas replied to Sakkari: “Thank you for your words.”
Then, Sakkari responded, “It’s great that it comes from another player that really understands how you feel that specific moment.”
Spoken from the heart like true teammates.
That winning feeling never gets old @mariasakkari @steftsitsipas pic.twitter.com/wlNWBtOFKf
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 2, 2026
