United Cup Day 2 Preview: Wawrinka Continues Comeback Against Bublik

Tennis Australia/Scott Davis

When Stan Wawrinka injured his foot early in the 2021 season, he thought he’d miss only a few weeks. Instead, he was sidelined for more than a year — and suffered many moments of doubt that he would ever play tennis again.

“Of course there were those questions in my mind,” Wawrinka said last year in Monte Carlo before his first match back on the ATP Tour. “I was afraid things wouldn’t happen the way I wanted them to happen.”

Wawrinka faced Alexander Bublik in that comeback match and played credibly, losing in three sets. As it turns out, the 37-year-old Swiss player’s first match of 2023 comes against Bublik on Friday in Brisbane as Switzerland and Kazakhstan meet in a Group B confrontation at the United Cup. If Wawrinka can earn victory, he will seal the tie for Switzerland after his nation took a 2-0 lead on Day 1.

His 2022 season, understandably, was an uneven one, but there were flickers of the elite game that took Wawrinka to three Grand Slam singles titles. He reached the quarter-finals in Basel and the semis in Metz, beating then-World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round before falling in the semis to — yes — Bublik, when a hamstring injury forced his retirement 18 minutes in.

While his Pepperstone ATP Ranking slid into the low 300s last year, Wawrinka has it back to No. 148. His Swiss teammate, Marc-Andrea Huesler, is World No. 56. Wawrinka can draw from an extraordinary well of experience. He’s one of three players (along with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych) to defeat all of the Big Four — Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray — in Grand Slam play.

Bublik took the title in Montpellier back in February and won 33 tour-level matches across the 2022 season. He’s sits at No. 37 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings — and will take that 2-0 ATP Head2Head advantage over his Friday opponent into Pat Rafter Arena.

Pegula, Kvitova To Turn Up The Heat
How’s this for a blazing match in the sweet spot of the Australian summer: World No. 3 Jessica Pegula against two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in a United Cup Group C encounter between the United States and the Czech Republic.

With a win Friday in Sydney, Pegula will clinch the opening tie for the U.S. On Day 1, Madison Keys and Taylor Fritz won their matches to give the Americans a 2-0 lead.

The last time we saw these two square off was the fourth round of the 2022 US Open, when Pegula produced a 6-3, 6-2 victory, which sent her into the quarter-finals against World No.1 Iga Swiatek. The eventual champion prevailed in two tight sets over Pegula, but the American was headed to the WTA Finals and a career-high ranking.

Pegula’s finest moment came in Guadalajara, when she beat four major champions — Elena Rybakina, Bianca Andreescu, Sloane Stephens and Victoria Azarenka — on the way to the final. There she defeated World No.6 Maria Sakkari for her first WTA 1000 title. One week later, she was in Fort Worth for the WTA Finals, where she qualified in both singles and doubles.

“It’s just more of a reward and confidence boost for me, I think, to just show what a great season I had and how consistent I’ve been,” Pegula said. “I think as the year went on it became more of a goal. So, yeah, it’s a huge honour.”

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Pegula won 42 of 63 matches for the year and her coach, David Witt, was the WTA Tour’s Coach of the Year.

Kvitova, coming off a strong season as well, is ranked World No. 16 after winning the title in Eastbourne last season. She also reached the final at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and won three matches at the US Open before running into Pegula. The Czech player won her two previous matches against Pegula, both in 2020, in Doha and the US Open in straight sets.

Also in Sydney, Great Britain can clinch victory against home nation Australia after taking a 2-0 lead on Thursday. Briton Harriet Dart takes on Ajla Tomljanovic, while Daniel Evans plays Jason Kubler.

In Perth, Maria Sakkari can seal the win for Greece if she beats Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova, while Caroline Garcia can clinch the tie for France if she wins the WTA No. 1 singles match against Argentine Nadia Podroska. Both Greece and France lead 2-0 after Day 1.

The final tie between Italy and Brazil is finally poised at 1-1 in Brisbane. Matteo Berrettini will play Thiago Monteiro in the opening match of the day, before Lucia Bronzetti takes on Laura Pigossi. If still level then, a mixed doubles match will decide the Group E tie.

United Cup: Day 2 Order of play (local time)

Sydney, Ken Rosewall Arena

U.S. vs. Czech Republic (Group C):
Jessica Pegula (USA) vs. Petra Kvitova (CZE), 10 a.m.
Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs. Tomas Machac (CZE), to follow
Mixed doubles, TBD  (USA) vs. TBD (CZE), to follow

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) vs. Thiago Monteiro (BRA), 10 a.m.
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