United Cup as it happened: Italy and Czechia dominant on day three in Sydney

That’s all from us in Sydney tonight.

We’re back tomorrow with all the action across Sydney and Perth, along with live updates from the Brisbane International where Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic are teaming up for the men’s doubles.

The first matches in Sydney will be Argentina against Great Britain, a tie which will seriously impact Australia’s future in this tournament, while Greece take on Kazakhstan first in Perth.

Until then, stay safe and enjoy your night.

Jasmine Paolini in her dominant victory against Belinda Bencic.Credit: Getty Images

World No.4 Jasmine Paolini has secured the tie for Italy with a crushing 6-1, 6-1 win over Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic.

In a somehow even more dominant second set, Paolini ran Bencic off the court, getting everything back and finishing points with winners or forcing errors from the Swiss.

Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.Credit: Getty Images

It took less than and hour for Paolini to get the job done, besting Bencic, who played solidly, in every aspect of the game.

After Flavio Cobolli’s win over Dominic Stricker earlier this evening, Italy wins the tie with victories in both singles.

The mixed doubles up next will be a dead rubber, but the overall tie score could still play a role depending on the results of the Italy-France tie, given Switzerland defeated France earlier in the week.

In other news, team Germany have officially won their tie 3-0 against Brazil.

Mixed doubles duo Tim Puetz and Laura Siegemund managed to get the job done in two sets, defeating Brazil’s Rafael Matos and Carolina Alves 7-6 (10-8), 6-4.

Tim Puetz and Laura Siegemund win the mixed doubles for Germany.Credit: AP

It means Germany and China are both undefeated when they face each other tomorrow night in Perth.

Grab your popcorn.

Jasmine Paolini takes the first set 6-1, with a commanding performance so far against Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic.

Bencic had two moments, at 2-0 when she almost broke Paolini’s serve, and another when she got on the board with a break of serve for 4-1, but other than those blips, it was all Paolini, who dominated with great energy as she comprehensively covered the court, answering Bencic’s solid ground strokes with powerful winners.

Jasmine Paolini wins the first set against Belinda Bencic.Credit: AP

Italian superstar Jasmine Paolini has largely dominated this first set, but Swizerland’s Belinda Bencic just got on the board with a break of serve.

Bencic came close to breaking Paolini’s serve at 2-0, finding one break point, but the Italian fought back, producing top-notch first serves under pressure to hold.

At 4-0, a few unforced errors from Paolini and solid ground strokes from Bencic, the Swiss player got the break, but Paolini breaks straight back and with a 5-1 lead will serve for the set.

Italy’s Jasmine Paolini and Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic are on court in Sydney for the second singles match of the tie, where Paolini has just secured an early break, to lead 2-0.

Bencic only returned to the tour in October, six months after giving birth to a daughter in April 2024.

The former world no. 4’s biggest career achievements include winning the women’s singles gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and reaching the US Open semi-final in 2019.

Jasmine Paolini and Belinda Bencic are about to start the women’s singles here in Sydney.

Paolini has just had her best year to-date on tour, but before 2024, she was relatively unknown to the average tennis fan.

Italian world No. 4 Jasmine Paolini.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

After seven years on the WTA tour, the 28-year-old Italian had never made it past the second round at a grand slam. Then, she made back-to-back finals at Wimbledon and the French Open.

Now, she’s ranked No. 4 in the world and had already helped lead Italy to one team’s victory this year at the Billie Jean King Cup.

Read all about her amazing rise here.

That was some exciting tennis from two youngsters on Ken Rosewall Arena, as Flavio Cobolli closed out the men’s singles match and snag a win for Italy over Switzerland’s Dominic Stricker in a second set tie-break.

Stricker and Cobolli, both 22-years-old, produced some brilliant shots in the tie-break, with a pair of passing winners down the line among the best.

Flavio Cobolli hits a backhand against Dominic Stricker of Switzerland.Credit: Getty Images

You can see how much representing their countries means to the pair, with both engaging the lively crowd of supporters.

But it was a neat volley from Cobolli that sealed the deal for the Italian at 6-4 7-6(7-2), securing a 1-0 lead in the tie with Switzerland.

Up next, Jasmine Paolini takes on Belinda Becic.

Team Germany’s Laura Siegemund and Tim Puetz are one step closer to securing a 3-0 victory for Germany, after defeating Brazil 7-6 (10-8) in an exhilarating first set tie-break.

Rafael Matos and Carolina Alves of Brazil held their own against Germany, and fought back after Germany had five set points, but the score got away from them in the end. Can they wrangle the second set off the Germans?

Up next in Perth from 8pm AEDT will be team USA against Canada. It’s the women’s singles first in that tie, with Coco Gauff and Leylah Fernandez taking to the court.

We’ve just seen a crucial game in this second set between Switzerland’s Dominic Stricker and Italy’s Flavio Cobolli.

It looked like a comeback could be on at 4-3 when Stricker got a break point at 30-40. The Italian saved the point, and secured his serve, but only after a protracted deuce in which Stricker made a handful of unforced errors.

Dominic Stricker of Switzerland.Credit: Getty Images

Earlier in the set, Stricker entertained fans with tweeners and his trademark winners that put him on the map back in 2023, waving his arms to encourage the crowd to get behind him.

But he looked defeated on team Switzerland’s bench at the change of ends.

It’s not over yet of course, we’re still on serve, with Cobolli leading 5-4.