Switzerland secures group victory at the United Cup and advances to the knockout phase. Belinda Bencic won both her singles and mixed doubles matches in her 2:1 victory over Italy.
04.01.2026, 17:51
04.01.2026, 18:01
SDA
The player from eastern Switzerland first proved her strong early form in Perth against Jasmine Paolini, the world number 8. She prevailed in two sets against the Italian, who suffered a bitter defeat on her 30th birthday. Both sets lasted almost an hour, with the first in particular being hard-fought with seven breaks (three for Paolini, four for Bencic). In the end, Bencic won 6:4, 6:3 and celebrated her third success against Paolini in their fifth meeting.
In the mixed doubles, Bencic again played alongside Jakub Paul and faced Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori. As on the previous day, the duel ended in a match tie-break - again in Switzerland's favor: 7:5, 4:6, 10:7.
Stan Wawrinka had previously narrowly missed out on his second singles victory at the United Cup. The 40-year-old put up a good fight against Flavio Cobolli, who is 17 years his junior, and came back from a set down. In the third set, however, he was narrowly beaten in a tie-break.
After beating France 3:0 and Italy 2:1, it is clear that Switzerland will finish their group in first place. In the quarter-finals, they will meet the winner of Group E again on Wednesday in Perth, which will be either Great Britain or Greece.
