United Cup: Defending champions Germany knock out Brazil

Laura Siegemund and Alexander Zverev both won their singles matches on Sunday

@Tennis TV

December 29, 2024

Defending champions Germany defeated Brazil 3-0-0 in Group E action at the United Cup in Perth on Sunday.

In the first match of the tie, German Laura Siegemund, ranked No 80 in the world, upset world No 17 Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in a little over two-and-a-half hours to give the Germans a 1-0 lead. This was Siegemund’s fourth win in five career meetings over Haddad Maia.

“It’s the first match of the year against such a great player, it’s not easy,” Siegemund said. “So I have to, out of the pocket, pull my best game basically, and I just tried to focus on that and stay cool in the [big] moments. The match, today, it wasn’t perfect. For nobody it is, at the beginning of the year. But I tried to stay in it, I tried to stay positive, and hopefully that’s giving me some confidence for the next matches.”

I’m very happy to be back playing for Team Germany again – Zverev

Men’s world No 2 Alexander Zverev then followed it up with a clinical 6-4, 6-4 win over Thiago Monteiro in one hour and 17 minutes to give the Germans an unbeatable 2-0 lead with the mixed doubles rubber to be played.

“I’m very happy to be back playing for Team Germany again,” Zverev said as quoted by the United Cup website. “Perth is one of my favourite cities in Australia… and I’m enjoying my time on the court. I think this is the first time we’ve been up 2-0 in a tie. Last year we were playing a deciding match every single time so it’s nice to know that we’ve got this one in the bag already.”

In the mixed doubles rubber, Tim Puetz/ Laura Siegemund defeated Rafael Matos/ Carolina Alves 7-6, 6-4 to give the Germans a 3-0 sweep.

China and Germany both have one win each in Group E and will play to decide who tops the group. Brazil’s two losses mean that they are out of the competition.