Greece have defeated Great Britain in the United Cup Group E decider after Billy Harris and Emma Raducanu lost out to former top five players Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari in three sets.
Harris narrowly missed out on the biggest win of his career, losing out to two-time former Grand Slam runner-up Tsitsipas 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(4) in two hours and 18 minutes.
Then Raducanu showed great fight to come back from a set down against Sakkari but ultimately lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Olivia Nicholls and Neal Skupski will try to get a point on the board for Great Britain in the next rubber. The best performing runners-up from the three groups in Perth can still qualify for the quarter-finals.
Harris takes the challenge to Tsitsipas
Harris got off to a lightning start, connecting on a forehand return winner to break the Greek in the opening game of the match. The world No.127 stayed on top throughout the opening set, dropping just five points on serve and capitalising on a flurry of errors from the Tsitsipas backhand.
Tsitsipas settled into the second set quickly and got back on track by winning the first five consecutive games.
In a tight third set, Harris held strong to see off two break points at 4-4 and had a 0-30 opportunity on the Tsitsipas serve at 6-5 before they went on to the tie-break.
The Greek is a solid front runner in tie-breaks and once he took a 3-0 lead, Harris was unable to overturn the deficit despite his best efforts. Tsitsipas closed out the win with a big first serve on his second match point to give Greece the advantage.
“I would like to congratulate Billy,” Tsitsipas said. “He put out an incredible performance. I haven’t played such a high quality match in a long time. He did great pushing me to my limits. Matches like that, regardless who wins and loses, are great for the sport.”
Raducanu United Cup debut ends in defeat
Sakkari confirmed Greece’s place in the quarter-finals with her first win in five meetings against Raducanu.
The Greek’s forehand dealt the damage in the first set to overturn the early break, but it was a laser backhand winner that saw the former world No.3 seal a second break for a 5-3 lead.
Raducanu saw three break back opportunities come and go before Sakkari managed to clinch her first set against the Brit.
After a discussion with new coach Francisco Roig, Raducanu flipped the script in the second set, reverting away from the high balls she’d been playing early on.
The strategy paid off. Raducanu fought back from a break and 2-1 down, and then saved three break points of her own at 3-3 to win a grueling second set in an hour and four minutes.
Raducanu wasn’t ready to face Naomi Osaka in yesterday’s tie with Japan and the efforts in the second set seemed to take their toll. The Briton sailed a forehand long to give Sakkari a 3-1 lead and then a double break for the Greek all but wrapped up an impressive win.