Singer Jasmine Paolini led Italy, ranked fourth in the world, to the quarter-finals of the mixed team United Cup on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old defeated France’s Chloe Paquet, who broke into the top 100 for the first time last year, 6-0, 6-2 at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.
It followed her season-opening victory over Belinda Bencic 6-1, 6-1, giving her an intimidating shot at the Australian Open.
Paolini had a memorable 2024, finishing runner-up at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and winning his second career title in Dubai.
She also won against Italy in doubles at the Paris Olympics, helping her country win the Billie Jean King Cup.
“I had a really solid match. I was happy with my performance and I was always focused,” she said. “Everything went very well. There were few mistakes and the level was high.”
Read more | Raducanu withdraws from Australian Open preliminaries due to back pain
Paolini won the first seven games before Paquet got on the scoreboard. However, it was a minor incident as the Italian quickly regained control and sealed the victory with a series of volleys.
Teammate Flavio Cobolli upset France’s world No. 14 Hugo Humbert 3-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-2 to give Italy a 1-0 lead.
The 22-year-old, who has steadily climbed the rankings in recent years and is currently ranked 32nd in the world, has won his second consecutive match this season.
“I’m really happy with the match because it was a great battle to start the season,” said Cobolli, who saved a match point in the second set. “We played a really good game and it was tough to come back against Hugo.”
The match ended with Humbert serving for four at 6-3, 5-4, but Koboli recovered to take it to a tiebreak, saved a match point at 8-7, and rallied in the third set to win. Ta.
Fritz, Gauff contribute to USA’s runner-up finish
The top-seeded pair of American Coco Gauff and US Open finalist Taylor Fritz will advance to the United Cup mixed team tennis quarterfinals.
Fritz defeated Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday as the American team needed to win one more game to take the lead in Group A. Gauff then faced Donna Vekic in the women’s singles match, ensuring her team’s place in the final eight.
The United States defeated Canada in the first match.
The Perth quarterfinals are scheduled for Wednesday, with the United States facing top runner-up qualifier China, and group winners Kazakhstan and Germany.
(With AP input)
