Rafael Nadal Loses in Three Sets to Norrie at United Cup 

Britain's Cameron Norrie (R) shakes hands with Rafael Nadal of Spain after winning in the men's singles match on day three of the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney on December 31, 2022. (AFP)
Britain's Cameron Norrie (R) shakes hands with Rafael Nadal of Spain after winning in the men's singles match on day three of the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney on December 31, 2022. (AFP)
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Rafael Nadal Loses in Three Sets to Norrie at United Cup 

Britain's Cameron Norrie (R) shakes hands with Rafael Nadal of Spain after winning in the men's singles match on day three of the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney on December 31, 2022. (AFP)
Britain's Cameron Norrie (R) shakes hands with Rafael Nadal of Spain after winning in the men's singles match on day three of the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney on December 31, 2022. (AFP)

Rafael Nadal has ended an up-and-down 2022 with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss to Britain’s Cameron Norrie at the United Cup mixed teams tournament on Saturday. 

Nadal won the Australian Open and French Open to take his career Grand Slam singles total to a leading 22. But foot, rib and abdomen injuries meant he played only four events after Wimbledon in July. 

Norrie’s win gave Britain a 1-0 lead over Spain with a women’s singles match to follow. 

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek gave Poland an early lead over Kazakhstan when she beat Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 6-3 at Brisbane. 

"First matches of the season are always kind of rusty, so I’m happy that in the important moments I was really composed," Swiatek said. 

At Perth, Bulgaria and Belgium were level at 1-1 after the first day. Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov beat David Goffin 6-4, 7-5 after Alison Van Uytvanck had a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win over Isabella Shinikova to give Belgium the early lead. 

Earlier, Jiri Lehecka scored a 6-4, 6-2 upset win over world No. 12 Alexander Zverev to help give the Czech Republic a 2-0 lead. 

The 21-year-old Lehecka, ranked No. 81, broke four times in the Group C match at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney to bounce back from an opening singles loss to Taylor Fritz of the United States on Thursday. 

Marie Bouzkova later beat Jule Niemeier 6-2, 7-5 in the second match to give the Czechs a 2-0 lead. Czech women’s No. 1 Petra Kvitova can clinch the tie on Sunday when she faces Laura Siegemund. 

Zverev was competing for the first time since June when he tore three ligaments in his right ankle during his Roland Garros semifinal match against Nadal. 

"I knew before the match that he hadn’t played in a while but with a player like him that can mean nothing," Lehecka said. "In the crucial moments I showed all the experience from the last year playing against good players." 

In other matches Saturday, Brazil took a 2-0 lead over Norway at Brisbane. 

World 15th-ranked Beatriz Haddad Maia improved her tournament record to 2-0 after defeating Malene Helgo of Norway 6-4, 6-2. Felipe Meligeni Alves gave Brazil its second win of the day when he beat Viktor Durasovic 6-3, 6-3. 

"I was trying to be as aggressive as I could," Haddad Maia said. "I was happy that I was patient and giving myself chances . . . even if I was missing. I was happy with the way I was thinking in this match." 

Two singles matches — one men's and one women's — are played over each of two days, with a mixed doubles to conclude the five-match encounter on the second day. 

The inaugural United Cup has teams from 18 countries competing in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney through to Jan. 4. The three city champions and the next-best performing country from the group stage will meet at Ken Rosewall Arena from Jan. 6 to 8 to determine the overall winner. 

After matches completed Friday, top-ranked Greece led Group A with a 4-1 record, Switzerland heads Group B (5-0), the U.S. is first in Group C (4-1), Britain (3-2) tops Group D, Italy is in first place in Group E with a 3-2 record and France (5-0) leads Group F. 



Pegula Beats Swiatek on Grass to Win Bad Homburg Title in Wimbledon Tune-up

US Jessica Pegula poses with the trophy as she won against Poland's Iga Swiatek in the final match at the WTA tennis tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
US Jessica Pegula poses with the trophy as she won against Poland's Iga Swiatek in the final match at the WTA tennis tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
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Pegula Beats Swiatek on Grass to Win Bad Homburg Title in Wimbledon Tune-up

US Jessica Pegula poses with the trophy as she won against Poland's Iga Swiatek in the final match at the WTA tennis tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
US Jessica Pegula poses with the trophy as she won against Poland's Iga Swiatek in the final match at the WTA tennis tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Top-seeded Jessica Pegula beat five-time major champion Iga Swiatek 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday to win the grass-court Bad Homburg Open, extending Swiatek’s year-long title drought.

Pegula clinched her third title of 2025 — with the others in Austin, Texas, and Charleston, South Carolina — and it was the ninth title of the 31-year-old American's career, The Associated Press reported.

Swiatek was seeded fourth at the WTA 500 tournament in Germany, where the 24-year-old Pole sought her first trophy since the 2024 French Open and a 23rd overall.

In their 11th career meeting, but first on grass, Pegula won for the fifth time overall. Pegula beat Swiatek in the quarterfinals at last year’s US Open, where she finished the runner-up.

Although Swiatek hit nine aces in Saturday's final, she also dropped her serve twice. Pegula saved the only break point she faced and won a higher percentage of points on first and second serve.

The former No.1-ranked Swiatek has won four French Open titles and one US Open, but has never been beyond the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

Pegula has also never been past the last eight at Wimbledon, where plays starts on Monday in London.