Caroline Garcia Helps Lead France Into United Cup Semifinals

Caroline Garcia has single-(and double-)handedly helped lead France to the United Cup semifinals.

The 30-year-old half-Spanish French tennis player and compatriot Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Ulrikke Eikeri and Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday to end a tie that stretched nearly 6½ hours.

Caroline GarciaWith the deciding mixed doubles match victory, France defeated Norway to set up a United Cup semifinal against top-seeded Poland.

The first set was a tight affair until France broke serve to make it 6-5 before holding to win the opener and then made the only break in the second set for a 2-1 lead.

Ruud forced the quarterfinal to a decider by downing Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 6-4 after Garcia put France up 1-0 by edging Malene Helgo 6-2, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5).

Garcia, ranked 20th and the 2022 WTA Finals champion, had to work for more than 2½ hours against 544th-ranked Helgo.

“It was a crazy match, a crazy performance from Helgo,” Garcia said. “I didn’t know her very well, and she just played a crazy match, was hitting the ball so well.”

Ruud outclassed Mannarino in the men’s singles.

“I don’t think I faced a break point,” Ruud said. “So that’s great for my standards of serving … and putting Norway back on the board.”

The final on Sunday is at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney.

Pablo Carreno Busta Helps Lead Spain Into ATP Cup Semifinals

Pablo Carreno Busta has helped lead Spain into the next round of the ATP Cup.

The 30-year-old Spanish professional tennis player defeated Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-4 to secure an ATP Cup semifinal spot for Spain.

Pablo Carreno Busta Meanwhile, Roberto Bautista Agut completed the group-stage victory over Serbia with a 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Dusan Lajovic later Wednesday in the second of the singles matches.

Spain only needed to win one of the three matches against Serbia to top Group A and set up a semifinal against Poland.

Carreno Busta got the job done in 80 minutes, registering his third singles win of the round-robin stage.

“It was the best match of the group,” Carreno Busta said in a post-match interview. “I am close to 100%. Today I played very well, very aggressively, very solid. I feel very comfortable on court, so it is going well.”

Spain dropped only one set on its way to victories over Chile, Norway and Serbia, the 2020 champions.

Chile’s 2-1 win over Norway in the day session meant Serbia needed to sweep Spain to advance.

Alejandro Tabilo beat Viktor Durasovic 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-1 to give Chile the lead before No. 8-ranked Casper Ruud leveled it for Norway with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Christian Garin.

Tabilo and Tomas Barrios Vera clinched the doubles 6-0, 6-4, giving Chile a 2-1 record in the round-robin stage and leaving Norway 0-3.

Poland reached the semifinals for the first time when No. 9-ranked Hubert Hurkacz beat Argentina‘s Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 6-4 following Kamil Majchrzak‘s 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over Federico Delbonis.

Poland finished the round-robin stage 3-0 in Group D, also beating Georgia and Greece.

“I’m so happy for our team. We’re in the semis, so super proud of that achievement,” Hurkacz said. “We have great team spirit. We support each other. I think the atmosphere that we bring helps us play better.”

Greece picked up its first victory with a 2-0 win over last-place Georgia.