Greece and Argentina deliver statement wins at 2026 United Cup

Maria Sakkari (Peter Menzel, Wikimedia Commons)

The 2026 United Cup is now underway in Australia, with Argentina and Greece coming away with impressive victories. Argentina won all three of their matches against Spain and Greece won all three of their matches against Japan. Both ties took place in Perth.

The most high profile match took place on the women’s side. Here we saw Maria Sakkari, the 52nd ranked player in the world, face Naomi Osaka, the 16th ranked player in the world. Sakkari is a two-time grand slam semifinalist (2021 French Open and 2021 United States Open), and has been ranked as high as third in the world. Osaka is a four-time grand slam champion as she won the United States Open in 2018 and 2020, and the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021.

In this contest, it was a dominant performance by Sakkari, as she won 6-0, 6-4. Sakkari had a first serve percentage of 69%, won 76% of the points on her first serve, and 70% of the points on her second serve. It was a struggle for Osaka, as she only had a first serve percentage of 41%, won 50% of the points on her first serve, and 47% of the points on the second serve.

Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas won his first match since the first round of the 2025 United States Open, as he defeated Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan, 6-3, 6-4. Tsitsipas is a two-time grand slam finalist (2021 French Open and 2023 Australian Open), but did not seem mentally strong in 2025. At one point he was harshly criticized by his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, for his lack of effort.

Argentina’s win came over Spain, which benefited by the fact Spain did not have Carlos Alcaraz, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Sebastian Baez beat Jaume Munar 6-4, 6-4 and Solana Sierra beat Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 5-7, 6-0.