The result ensures that Argentina will finish as the Perth group runner-up with the best record. Wednesday\u2019s quarter-finals will see defending champion United States play Greece in the morning and Argentina play Switzerland in the evening session. <\/p>\n
After saving two match points on serve at 5-6 in the second set, Rinderknech rallied from a break down in the third set to close out a courageous 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 7-5 win in three hours and 21 minutes. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if it was seriously good, but it was seriously tough, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d the top-ranked Frenchman said. \u201cHe\u2019s powerful and he made me play a lot of balls. I was able to find a way somehow like Stan found a way against me three days ago. Both matches [went deep] in the third, so I guess it\u2019s good preparation for the Australian Open<\/a>.”<\/p>\n Rinderknech survived 14 Cobolli forehand winners in the second set, when he came from within a point of going down a set and 1-5. He trailed 2-4 in the third before digging deep to win five of the last six games, finishing with 13 aces and saving seven of 11 break points faced.<\/p>\n \u201c[Near the end] I relaxed a little more when my back was against the wall,\u201d he said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t do anything else but try to the last shot. I\u2019ll talk to my coach Lucas and I\u2019m sure we can take something positive out of it.\u201d <\/p>\n Rinderknech finished 2025 as the No. 1 Frenchman and within the Top 30 for the first time in his career. He is now at a career-high mark of No. 27.<\/p>\n Although both Italy and France have been eliminated from quarter-final contention, play continues inside RAC Arena with Jasmine Paolini taking on Leolia Jeanjean, with mixed doubles to follow.<\/p>\n It was an unenviable task for Jasmine Paolini, stepping on court just moments after Italy was eliminated from quarter-final contention at the United Cup<\/a> following Cobolli\u2019s loss to Rinderknech.<\/p>\n But she handled it with efficiency, defeating Leolia Jeanjean in businesslike fashion, 6-2, 6-3 in 1 hour and 22 minutes.<\/p>\n While the scoreline suggests a routine win, Paolini had to navigate more than a few challenges to secure her first victory of 2026. Beyond the dejected mood on the Team Italy bench, the World No. 8 also had to withstand a blistering start on serve by Jeanjean.<\/p>\n Despite entering as the underdog, Jeanjean fired six aces in her first two service games to take a 2-1 lead. Paolini responded by reeling off five straight games to claim the opening set in 40 minutes. <\/p>\n She did so behind the strength of her own serve, winning 80 per cent of her own first-serve points in the first set. She finished the match at an even more impressive 88 per cent. On the other side of the net, Paolini broke Jeanjean to open the second set – and despite needing six match points – never looked back.<\/p>\n Even with Italy eliminated before she took the court, Paolini maintained her trademark positivity postmatch.<\/p>\n \u201cWe couldn\u2019t get through the group, but we did our best,\u201d Paolini said. \u201cWe fought until the last ball and there\u2019s still mixed doubles, so we\u2019re going to be there to cheer for them. Sometimes it\u2019s sport, but we have to keep going, [keep] fighting, because that\u2019s the right way to finish this competition.\u201d<\/p>\n With both teams already eliminated and only bragging rights remaining, Italy\u2019s Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori<\/a> defeated France\u2019s Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah and Edouard Roger-Vasselin<\/a> 7-6(6), 7-6(6) to clinch the tie.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"United Cup Rinderknech revival against Cobolli sends Argentina into United Cup QFs in Perth Perth QF line-up sees…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-390920","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n