Women's game did not need 'Battle of Sexes' – Swiatek
Iga Swiatek says tennis did not need the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ between Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka as the women’s game “stands on its own”.
Iga Swiatek says tennis did not need the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ between Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka as the women’s game “stands on its own”.
Switzerland couldn’t have asked for a much better start to its 2026 United Cup campaign than the one Belinda Bencic delivered Saturday in Perth.
The 28-year-old dropped the opening game against France’s Leolia Jeanjean, but never trailed again, rolling to a 6-2, 6-4 win at RAC Arena in 1 hour and 31 minutes. The victory — sealed with a backhand winner down the line — gave Switzerland a 1-0 lead in its tie against France ahead of the upcoming men’s singles match between Stan Wawrinka and Arthur Rinderknech.
Bencic controlled the matchup from the outset in the pair’s first meeting, dominating at the net, where she won 23 of 29 points, and reinforcing that edge with strong serving. She won 78 per cent of her first-serve points to stifle most of the pressure Jeanjean managed to generate.
“The last game was tricky with the Australian sun,” Bencic said after the match. “I think this is really one of the only places — to play in Australia — where you get into this situation. So I should have done better somehow. So I’m gonna find some solutions next time.”
Bencic is coming off a resurgent 2025 season in which she was named WTA Comeback Player of the Year, climbing from World No. 421 in January to No. 11 in the year-end rankings in her first full season after maternity leave.
“Last year, we didn’t expect it to go so well,” Bencic said. “Of course, I don’t think the work is done yet. I’m extremely happy to receive the Comeback Player of the Year award, and now it’s time to do more work and try to get better.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Arthur Fils will not compete in January while he continues his recovery from a back injury.
The Frenchman confirmed on his YouTube channel that he has withdrawn from Hong Kong, Adelaide and the Australian Open. The stress fracture first forced him to withdraw from a tournament before his third-round match at Roland Garros last May.
[ATP APP]Fils made an initial comeback in August at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto, but that proved to be his final event of the 2025 season after he felt ‘a warning sign’ in his back in Canada.
A three-time ATP Tour titlist, the 21-year-old Fils is the current No. 39 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He reached his career high of No. 14 last April.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Elise Mertens got Belgium off to a strong start on the first day of United Cup play in Sydney on Saturday by beating China’s Zhu Lin 6-2, 6-2 in Group B action.
The top-ranked player from her country on the WTA Tour, Mertens kicked off her 12th WTA tour-level season in style with a one-hour, 18-minute victory — her fourth in five career meetings with former World No. 31 Zhu.
The 31-year-old from China had a resurgent second half of 2025 after seeing her position in the PIF WTA Rankings plummet due to an elbow injury. Ranked No. 493 in August, she reached the fourth round of the WTA 1000 event in Montreal, and begins 2026 ranked No. 168. But, on the whole, Mertens proved too much for the Chinese No. 6 to handle.
She broke serve six times in victory, won five of the first six games, and four straight from 1-1 in the second set, even though she landed less than than 50 per cent of first serves in set two.
Zizou Bergs, the ATP World No. 42, will attempt to clinch the tie for Belgium next when he faces Zhang Zhizhen, who, like Zhu, is also a former World No. 31 on the comeback trail from injury.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]A Chinese history maker is back at the United Cup.
The first Chinese man to crack the Top 100 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Zhang Zhizhen, is again representing his country on the global stage at the United Cup. But this edition is different for the 29-year-old righty.
Zhang is No. 410 in the world after an injury-mired 2025 season during which he struggled with a shoulder injury, which dates back to when he was 15.
“I do believe sometimes during the years, a few days, I felt the shoulder was painful, but I thought the problem was gone,” Zhang told ATPTour.com. “It seemed like that last year, I felt maybe in two weeks the problem will be gone. But it was still there and we did an MRI with an injection to see the problem.”
The former World No. 31 began feeling pain in the front of his shoulder in February when he competed in Doha and Dubai. It began to subside and then became a bigger issue the following month when he traveled to the United States for the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
The imaging showed that his injury was actually inside the shoulder and closer to the back of it rather than in the front. He would not play a competitive match for more than six months.
The next two months, Zhang did not play tennis at all. Instead, the Chinese standout did fitness every day, played on his computer and spent time with family.
“But most of the time I was running,” Zhang said with a smile.
“In those moments sometimes I was missing a bit to play tennis. I knew when the tennis would start it would get a little bit easier. To do the fitness part, the exercises, only one session of the fitness part was really tough. So I wish I had some tennis, but I could not in that moment.”
[NO 1 CLUB]The only time Zhang left Shanghai during the period was in late April to attend the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid. The bulk of his time was spent staying in shape, improving his conditioning and biding his time.
Zhang began playing tennis lightly in July and did not feel too comfortable on the court when he began.
“But at least I was moving all the time on the tennis court, so I didn’t really forget about the court size,” Zhang said. “It was still okay. But to play rallies was a little bit different.”
What he was able to do was change his game. Zhang believes that his forehand swing path was what caused his injury, so the time away allowed him to totally alter his swing.
“This forehand, I wanted to change already. It was even a better moment to change completely,” Zhang said. “Without this shoulder injury, I think we wouldn’t change that and make such a big difference. We would do smaller changes to help, but now we changed everything.
“Preparation, using the power, how to transfer the power and a little bit the motion of the swing, which is everything. To be more natural and more like everyone.”
Zhang, who returned for three tournaments in China in September, will try to show the progress he has made at the United Cup. China takes on Belgium Saturday in Sydney.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]A mocked idea to feed false plans to the Nazis via a drowned corpse is brought to life.
British doubles player Olivia Nicholls hopes to build on the successes of 2025 at the start of the new tennis season in Australia.
With the 2026 tennis season kicking off, BBC Sport analyses why many top players are complaining about burnout and what could be done to prevent it.
Team Germany made a literal splash Friday in Sydney before they hope to make a figurative one at the United Cup.
The team that won the title in 2024 took a quick break before the competition to visit the famous Wylie’s Baths near Coogee Beach. The Germans — Alexander Zverev, Eva Lys, Laura Siegemund, Kevin Krawietz, Patrick Zahraj and Mina Hodzic — enjoyed their time at the tidal swimming pool, especially the team bonding.
“I’m a big fan of team events, so I’m really happy Team Germany is all together here,” Lys said. “I feel like we don’t have many times [when] ATP and also WTA can stick together, so I’m excited.”
<img alt=”Team Germany visits Wylie’s Baths Friday before the start of Sydney action in the United Cup.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/02/12/15/germany-united-cup-2026-beach.jpg?w=100%25″ />
Zverev and Siegemund helped lead Germany to glory two years ago, defeating Poland 2-1 in an unforgettable final. Zverev and Siegemund clinched that tie in a deciding mixed doubles. That year, Angelique Kerber played singles, while this edition Lys is taking the mantle.
“Slightly different team than two years ago when we won it. But Laura is here, I’m here. We had good success in the mixed always in the past,” Zverev said. “We have a great female player in Eva this time, so it’s nice to have this big of support and hopefully we can go on and have the same success as two years ago.”
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Team Germany begins its pursuit of a second United Cup trophy on Sunday during the day session in Group F against the Netherlands. Lys is scheduled to face Suzan Lamens before Zverev takes on Tallon Griekspoor.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Katie Boulter turns to Michael Joyce, former coach of Maria Sharapova, as she attempts to climb back up the world rankings.