ATP Tour

Bencic/Paul send Switzerland to United Cup SFs

Belinda Bencic and Jakub Paul sent Switzerland into the United Cup semi-finals on Wednesday in Perth, where they won the decisive mixed doubles rubber against Argentina’s Maria Lourdes Carle and Guido Andreozzi 6-3, 6-3.

Earlier, Argentina's Sebastian Baez had maintained his perfect start to the season by defeating Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 6-4 to level the quarter-final tie at 1-1. In the opening match, Benic defeated Solana Sierra in straight sets.

With the pressure on, Bencic and Paul delivered and have now won all three mixed doubles matches they have played this week. The pair was in red-hot form throughout the 75-minute clash in the RAC Arena against Carle and Andreozzi, taking the first cut in rallies and closing the net sharply. Following victory, the Swiss team celebrated on court, with Bencic and Paul leaping into the air.

Switzerland will face Belgium or Czechia in the semi-finals in Sydney.

Earlier, Baez earned just his second Top 10 win when he defeated Taylor Fritz in the group stage and he produced another impressive display against the 40-year-old Wawrinka, who earned a dramatic three-set win against Arthur Rinderknech earlier this tournament.

The seven-time tour-level titlist Baez saved all five break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, while he forced the former No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings into errors with his flat groundstrokes. Baez has now won three matches at a tour-level hard-court event for just the second time in his career (Winston-Salem 2023, champion).

Swiss player Bencic continued her strong start to the new season with a straight-sets win over Argentina’s Solana Sierra.

Bencic, ranked No. 11 in the WTA Tour Drive by Mercedez-Benz rankings, broke serve in the third game of the opening set. The second set followed a similar pattern, with Bencic breaking again in the third game and seventh games before sealing a 6-2, 6-2 win in one hour, 17 minutes.

The 28-year-old has now won all three of her singles matches at the United Cup in straight sets, having also defeated France’s Leolia Jeanjean and Italy’s Jasmine Paolini during the group stage.

Bencic, who returned from maternity leave towards the end of the 2024 season, surged from No. 421 in early January to No. 11 in the year-end rankings. She captured titles in Abu Dhabi and Tokyo and reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon.