United Cup: Rybakina/ Shevchenko win deciding mixed doubles to give Kazakhstan win over Spain

December 27, 2024

Pablo Carreno Busta and Elena Rybakina won their respective singles matches to move the tie into the deciding mixed doubles match

Elena Rybakina 2024

Kazakhstan won the opening tie of the 2025 United Cup after Elena Rybakina and Alexander Shevchenko defeated Spanish duo Pablo Carreno Busta and Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers in a match tiebreak in the deciding mixed doubles contest as the new tennis season kick off in Perth, Australia on Friday.

Spain got off to the better start with Carreno Busta sweeping past Shevchenko 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour in the Group C tie.

“I didn’t expect this level,” the Spanish veteran said in his on-court interview. “It is very important in the beginning to be focused. In the beginning, I was very nervous but that’s normal. After that, I tried to be solid and tried to be a little more aggressive than (I was) in the beginning.”

Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, playing her first match under new coach Goran Ivanisevic, levelled the tie at 1-1 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

“It was a really tough one, first matches are always difficult,” Rybakina said during her on-court interview. “It’s not easy to get used to [it] that quick, but I’m really happy with the way I played today.”

In the deciding mixed doubles contest, where teams were allowed to call a time-out, Rybakina and Shevchenko narrowly emerged winners with a 7-6, 6-7, 10-7 win over Carreno Busta/ Cavalle-Reimers.