United Cup
\n Recharged Tsitsipas, Sakkari power Greece past Japan in Perth<\/p>\n
Team Greece wins all six sets played<\/p>\n
January 02, 2026<\/p>\n
Paul Kane\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Stefanos Tsitsipas defeats Shintaro Mochizuki in straight sets on Friday in Perth.
\n By ATP\/WTA Staff<\/p>\n
After a challenging 2025 season, Stefanos Tsitsipas<\/a> launched his 2026 campaign on a positive note on Friday at the United Cup<\/a> in Perth, where he guided Greece to a confident opening victory over Japan.<\/p>\n Following Maria Sakkari\u2019s commanding straight-sets win over Naomi Osaka to give Greece the early advantage, Tsitsipas sealed the tie with an assertive 6-3, 6-4 victory over Shintaro Mochizuki<\/a> inside RAC Arena.<\/p>\n Tsitsipas and Sakkari then pressed home the advantage with a high-energy 6-2, 6-3 mixed doubles win over Yasutaka Uchiyama<\/a> and Nao Hibino to secure the second 3-0 result on Day 1, following Argentina\u2019s shutout of Spain.<\/p>\n Playing his first match since last September after a back injury layoff, former World No. 3 Tsitsipas recovered from an early break to take control and deliver a composed performance for the 2023 semi-finalists.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a rough few months for me,\u201d Tsitsipas said. \u201cI was in a lot of uncertainty and I was not sure if I could really compete, so to see myself at that level again and showing some really good tennis is something I\u2019m grateful for. Let\u2019s keep it going.\u201d<\/p>\n After his second round upset by Matteo Gigante<\/a> at Roland Garros<\/a> last year, Tsitsipas dropped outside the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time since August 2018. The former Nitto ATP Finals<\/a> champion struggled with a back injury and also worked with Goran Ivanisevic<\/a> for two months before rehiring his father Apostolos.<\/p>\n But in his first match of the season, Tsitsipas looked refreshed and purposeful, striking the ball with conviction in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with the 22-year-old Mochizuki, the World No. 99.<\/p>\n You May Also Like: Tsitsipas, raring to go in Perth, reveals his \u2018biggest wish for 2026\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Tsitsipas, once a Top 10 staple, currently occupies the World No. 36 spot and he has targeted a return to a major final in 2026, having previously reached that stage at Roland Garros<\/a> in 2021 and the Australian Open<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n Earlier, Sakkari shook off any lingering disappointment from last year\u2019s round-robin exit and powered Greece to a fast start, earning a marquee straight-sets win over four-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 16 Osaka.<\/p>\n Facing Osaka for the first time in nearly five years, the former world No. 3 jumpstarted Greece\u2019s opening tie against Japan with a 6-4, 6-2 victory in 1 hour and 38 minutes at RAC Arena, fueled by quick starts in both sets. <\/p>\n Beware the SakkAttack \ud83d\udca5@mariasakkari<\/a> gives Team Greece the perfect start in Perth. pic.twitter.com\/2O0YqufDOc<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 United Cup<\/a> (@UnitedCupTennis) January 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Sakkari struck first in the opener, racing out to a 2-0 lead with a hold and an early break in Osaka\u2019s opening service game. Osaka broke back immediately, but Sakkari reclaimed the advantage and closed out the set, painting the line with a backhand winner to set up a third set point, which she would promptly convert.<\/p>\n “You’re always very hesitant when you come in that first match because sometimes you can trick yourself that you had a good preseason, and then you have high expectations to come out and do everything,” Sakkari said to reporters after the match. <\/p>\n “I really forced myself not to think like that. I think that that was the key. Just went out there, tried to do the things that I worked on and, you know, we keep building and we can keep trying to improve.” <\/p>\n Sakkari struck first in the opener, racing out to a 2-0 lead with a hold and an early break in Osaka\u2019s opening service game. Osaka broke back immediately, but Sakkari reclaimed the advantage and closed out the set, painting the line with a backhand winner to set up a third set point, which she would promptly convert. <\/p>\n “[There were] a lot of backhand winners, but a lot of backhand errors as well,” Sakkari said. “I have to allow myself to miss in order for me to make a lot of winners. It was all about who was going to take the back hand line, let’s be honest. It was all about who was going to get that good cross-court ball in order to get down the line.” <\/p>\n The second set opened with the two trading holds before Sakkari erased two break points for a 2-1 lead. She then managed to break Osaka again to move in front 3-1, and she maintained control from there, sealing her third win in six meetings with Osaka to even their head-to-head and, more importantly, give Greece a 1-0 lead in its tie against Japan. <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n