Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari take Greece into Fed Cup qualifying | ATP Tour
match report
Tsitsipas, Sakkari lead Greece to qualify for Fed Cup
Two singles stars go 2-0 in Perth this week
January 5, 2026
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Stefanos Tsitsipas featured in the Confederations Cup tie on Monday.
Written by ATP Staff
The next round of the Fed Cup quarter-finals is about to begin, with Greece advancing to the knockout stages for the third time in four editions of the tournament. Three-set wins from Stefanos Tsistipas and Maria Sakkari secured Group E against Great Britain at the RAC Arena in Perth. Olivia Nicholls and Neil Skupski faced Despina Papamichael and Stefanos Sakraidis in the mixed doubles final, winning 6-2, 3-6, 10-4 for the British team.
It is worth noting that Sakkari defeated Emma Raducanu 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, which was her first career victory over the Briton on the WTA Tour with Mercedes-Benz Team. Sakkari currently has a 2-0 record in singles competition in the new season, defeating Japan on January 2nd against Naomi Osaka.
Sakkari said on the court: “Emma, I have lost to her four times, so to get the first win against her, against a great opponent, it means a lot, especially to contribute to the Greek team.”
“He has one of the highest tennis IQs I’ve ever met.”
We are here for the Greek team combination 🙌 pic.twitter.com/bq5IV3yuNY
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 5, 2026
Earlier, Tsitsipas set the tone by digging deep to beat Billy Harris 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4). In a hard-fought battle, Tsitsipas fought back after a slow start to help Greece lead 1-0. The 27-year-old struggled to find his backhand range throughout the two-hour-and-15-minute match, but his forehand did enough damage and he kept his cool in the third-set tiebreaker to claim victory.
“I’m tired of losing games like this [last year],” Tsitsipas said. “I lost one in September and I just did everything I could to avoid the same thing happening again. I’m grateful to be able to overcome this. There’s a crazy energy here.
“I want to congratulate Billy. He played an unbelievable performance. I haven’t played a match of this quality in a long time. He did a great job and pushed me to the limit. I think matches like this are great for the sport.”
Tsitsipas helped the Greek team defeat Shintaro Mochizuki and the Japanese team in the first match of the Federation Cup, and currently maintains an 8-2 singles record in the mixed team competition. This is the first time the 36th-ranked player in the PIF ATP Rankings has won back-to-back matches since Barcelona reached the quarter-finals last April.
