The second day of action at the United Cup is underway, with Australia suffering a setback after Ajla Tomljanovic pulled out of the must-win match against Great Britain due to injury.
Tomljanovic will be sidelined with a left knee injury, although she is still a chance of recovering in time to play for Australia in its second tie against Spain on Tuesday.
Maddison Inglis will step in to replace Tomljanovic against Harriet Dart, with the 24-year-old rising in prominence earlier this year after a breakout Australian Open campaign.
DAY 1 RECAP: Demon downed by No.1 Brit as Aussies fall in early hole
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De Minaur derailed in United Cup | 01:23
The local wildcard took down US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in her run to third round, eventually defeated by six-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Kaia Kanepi.
Australia is already vulnerable having gone down 2-0 after Day 1’s results against Great Britain, meaning one more win will seal Group D for the visitors.
Jason Kubler is the other Australian in action on Day 2, facing Daniel Evans in Sydney after Inglis’ match, which is scheduled for 5.30pm.
Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios has continued to clap back at his critics, this time retweeting a post from manager Daniel Horsfall suggesting the Australian is a victim of tall poppy syndrome.
It comes after Kyrgios withdrew from the United Cup with injury, prompting criticism from Australia’s United Cup co-captain Lleyton Hewitt over a lack of communication.
“I was in the same boat as all the other players yesterday,” Hewitt said.
“I didn’t know any more (than others). It was pretty tough for everyone. It was more probably the lack of communication and these guys not knowing.”
There was also an injury blow earlier in the day for the Czech Republic, with Tomas Machac having to retire hurt after rolling his nakle in his match against Frances Tiafoe.
“What a shame, he was putting up a great fight,” Jim Courier said in commentary.
Tiafoe had taken the first set 6-4 but was down a break in the second, trailing 4-2.
Earlier in the day, Petra Kvitova had initially kept Czech Republic in it against the Americans with a 7-6(6), 6-4 win over World No. 3 Jessica Pegula.
Kvitova saved seven set points in the first set of the match on the way to victory, a crucial one given the Americans had already jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two wins on Day 1.
It meant that Tiafoe needed to defeat Machac to guarantee the Group C tie for the Americans, which he did albeit in unfortunate circumstances for his rival.
Elsewhere, Matteo Berrettini defeated Thiago Monteiro 6-4 7-6 to give Italy a 2-1 lead over Brazil.
Team Greece takes 2-0 lead in United Cup | 01:02
The other earlier match of Day 2 sees Maria Sakkari face Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova and can seal Group A for Greece with a victory against Tomova.
In other news, former world number three Dominic Thiem will feature in the Australian summer of tennis after being handed a wildcard to the Australian Open.
The Austrian, who pushed Novak Djokovic to five sets in the 2020 Australian Open final, was sidelined for nine months with a wrist injury sustained during the 2021 grass-court season.
He has shown encouraging signs on his return to the tour, rising from outside the top 350 to 102 in the second half of this year, including semi-final runs at Gstaad, Gijon and Antwerp.
His rapid ranking rise meant the 29-year-old only narrowly missed directly qualifying for the main draw of the Australian Open, which starts in Melbourne on January 16.
Thiem, a two-time French Open runner-up, won the US Open in 2020. Other wildcards went to American pair Taylor Townsend and Christopher Eubanks, and French players Diane Parry and Luca Van Assche.
DAY 2 SCHEDULE
Sydney, Ken Rosewall Arena
U.S. vs. Czech Republic (Group C):
Petra Kvitova (CZE) def. Jessica Pegula (USA) — 7-6 6-4
Frances Tiafoe (USA) def. Tomas Machac (CZE) — 6-3, 2-4 (retired hurt)
Australia vs. Great Britain (Group D)
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) vs. Harriet Dart (GBR), 5:30 p.m.
Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs. Daniel Evans (GBR), to follow
Mixed doubles, TBD (AUS) vs. TBD (GBR), to follow
Perth, RAC Arena
Greece vs. Bulgaria (Group A)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) vs. Viktoriya Tomova (BUL), 10 a.m.
Michail Pervolarakis (GRE) vs. Dimitar Kuzmanov (BUL), to follow
Mixed doubles, TBD (GRE) vs. TBD (BUL), to follow
France vs. Argentina (Group F)
Caroline Garcia (FRA) vs. Nadia Podoroska (ARG), 5:30 p.m.
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) vs. Federico Coria (ARG), to follow
Mixed doubles, TBD (FRA) vs. TBD (ARG), 8:30, to follow
Brisbane, Pat Rafter Arena
Italy vs. Brazil (Group E)
Matteo Berrettini (ITA) def. Thiago Monteiro (BRA) — 6-4, 7-6 (7)
Lucia Bronzetti (ITA) vs. Laura Pigossi (BRA), to follow
Mixed doubles, TBD (ITA) vs. TBD (BRA), to follow
Switzerland vs. Kazakhstan (Group B)
Stan Wawrinka (SWI) vs. Alexander Bublik (KAZ), 5:30 p.m.
Jil Teichmann (SWI) vs. Zhibek Kulambayeva (KAZ), to follow
Mixed doubles, TBD (SWI) vs. TBD (KAZ), to follow
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