Alexander Zverev led Germany to the United Cup semifinals with a pair of key victories in a 2-1 upset of Greece on Friday in Sydney, Australia.
The Germans, seeded 16th, fell behind in the opening match when Greece’s Maria Sakkari steamrolled Angelique Kerber 6-0, 6-3, winning the first nine games before Kerber got on the scoreboard.
Kerber was playing just her third singles match — all this week — in 18 months after taking time off to give birth to her first child.
Zverev evened the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in a contest pitting the world’s No. 7 and No. 6 players, respectively. Zverev was the sharper of the two, committing just nine unforced errors to 24 for Tsitsipas.
The results of singles play left the mixed-doubles match as the decider for the semifinals berth, with Zverev and Laura Siegemund giving Germany a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Sakkari and Petros Tsitsipas and ousting No. 2 Greece.
Germany will meet No. 15 Australia in one semifinal on Saturday, while No. 1 Poland will clash with No. 4 France in the other.
The final will be on Sunday.
–Field Level Media