Team Italy made a statement in the first United Cup outing, racing away to a dominant 3-0 victory over Switzerland in Sydney, while Czechia etched up a 2-1 win over Norway.
Flavio Cobolli produced a superb display of baseline tennis to defeat Dominic Stricker 6-3 7-6 in the first match of the evening session. Backed by a boisterous Italian crowd, Cobolli saved all five break points he faced while converting the only two break points he could manufacture. Stricker showed his brilliance in flashes, but couldn’t match the consistency of his opponent, leaving Switzerland in a perilous position heading into their final two rubbers.
"[Stricker and I] have a great relationship," said Cobolli. "We are good friends, and we spend a lot of time on the tour, so it's also nice to play the first match of the year against him."
Two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini only required 58 minutes to dismantle Belinda Bencic 6-1 6-1 in a flawless display of tennis. The 28-year-old Italian broke all seven of Bencic’s service games and never gave her a chance to gain a foothold into the match.
"Not too many mistakes," Paolini said when dissecting her game. "I serve well, I return well, and I was moving fast, so I'm really happy about my performance today."
In the dead rubber doubles, Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani comfortably defeated Bencic and Stricker 6-4 6-4.
Earlier in the day, Czechia edged Norway 2-1, despite Casper Ruud’s three-hour victory over Tomáš Macháč in a match described by Czechia's captain as "one of the best matches [he] had ever seen".
In a match with a multitude of shots that were destined for the highlight reel, both players suffered in the gruelling Sydney heat, with the match defined by lengthy rallies and medical timeouts.
Despite the defeat, Macháč said he was surprised that he could bring such a high level so early in the season.
"I was sick before this tournament," he confessed. "I didn't do any pre-season as I wanted to. But I was really fighting [the] whole match. I was surprised that I can play this level [for] three sets. I was really enjoying that."
As Karolína Muchová breezed past world No.404 Malene Helgø 6-2 6-2 earlier in the day, this took the tie into a deciding mixed doubles.
With Ruud suffering from the after-effects of a tough singles battle, captain Christian Ruud had no choice but to partner Ulrikke Eikeri with Viktor Durasovic, who proved no match for Muchová and Macháč, prevailing 6-4 6-4.
According to Macháč, there was little doubt that he would play the deciding mixed doubles, even after such a gruelling singles contest.
"I was thinking about [not playing] after the first set because I was really getting tight, and I was really not enjoying the match after the first set. But I managed to find myself; I managed to find my body. I was in some pain, but it wasn't so bad at all," he said.
"After the singles, I was not even thinking that I [would] not play mixed doubles. I like to play doubles, especially mixed doubles with Kaia. Kaia is [an] unbelievable player. I was looking forward to [playing] against his side.
"We were playing great. I was happy with that."
While Switzerland are likely out of the United Cup, Italy look to push forward their qualification claims against France on New Year’s Eve.
Norway face Poland tomorrow night, while Czechia will seek to book their spot in the quarter-finals against Poland on New Year’s Day.
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