Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. celebrates beating Britain's Daniel Evans during their men's singles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia, January 4, 2023. /CFP
Frances Tiafoe battled past Briton Dan Evans 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to put the United States into the semi-finals of the United Cup mixed team tournament, which replaced the ATP Cup to open the 2023 season on Wednesday as Poland and Greece also advanced.
Tiafoe gave the Americans an unassailable 3-1 lead with his third straight victory of the season after Jessica Pegula downed Harriet Dart 6-2, 6-0 in 57 minutes. Madison Keys had earlier put the U.S. ahead after rallying past Katie Swan 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The in-form Cameron Norrie had put Britain level at 1-1 with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over world No. 9 Taylor Fritz, who later teamed up with Pegula to beat Dart and Evans.
"It's a big deal," Tiafoe said. "We want to go deep ... win this event so it was one of the stepping stones towards that. Today was a big one."
Polish players celebrate their mixed doubles victory against Italy during the United Cup tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, January 4, 2023. /CFP
Meanwhile, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz were Polish heroes in Brisbane, defeating Italy's Lorenzo Musetti and Camilla Rosatello 6-1, 6-2 in the decisive mixed doubles match to send Poland through to the United Cup semi-finals in Sydney.
Swiatek and Magda Linette won their singles matches to twice draw Poland level after Hurkacz and Daniel Michalski were beaten by Musetti and Matteo Berrettini to set up a thrilling finish under the roof at Pat Rafter Arena in rain-soaked Brisbane.
"Amazing," three-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek said. "It's even better winning in a team than as an individual. I'm so happy we did it together and the team effort paid off."
Stefanos Tsitsipas (R) and Maria Sakkari of Greece talk tactics in the mixed doubles finals match against Team Croatia during the 2023 United Cup in Perth, Australia, January 4, 2023. /CFP
Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas shrugged off a time violation on his serve for discarding what he believed was a "broken" ball to outlast Borna Coric 6-0, 6-7(4), 7-5 and end a three-match losing run against the Croatian.
But Greece were dragged into a deciding clash with the tie locked 2-2 and Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari overcame Petra Martic and Borna Gojo 7-6(6), 6-4 to spark wild celebrations among fans in Perth.
The U.S. will play Poland for a place in the final while Greece meet Italy in the semi-finals on Friday, with the final two days later.
(With input from agencies)