Stefanos Tsitsipas battled back to outlast Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 4-6 6-2 7-6(4) and give Greece a 2-0 lead on Thursday, the first day of the inaugural United Cup mixed team tournament in Perth, Western Australia.
Despina Papamichail earlier put Greece 1-0 up with a 3-6 6-4 6-1 win over Isabella Shinikova in 2 hours and 19 minutes.
It was the second time in the past three months that Papamichail had defeated Shinikova from a set down, having previously won 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) in a Monastir ITF W60 tournament in October.
“I’m playing with a really strong team,” Papamichail said on court after her win. “Stefanos [Tsitsipas] and Maria [Sakkari] is a big example for me, so the least I could do was fight my heart out.”
Papamichail’s win set the scene for Tsitsipas who edged past Dimitrov in 2 hours and 10 minutes to give No.1 seeds Greece a 2-0 lead over Bulgaria. Tsitsipas’ victory was the 24-year-old’s 250th tour-level win.
Team Greece will play two more singles matches today, including the match between Maria Sakkari and Viktoriya Tomova, as well as the mixed doubles match.
Source: WTA Tennis.
