Day three and the big guns finally take to the stage, namely Germany and the USA, respectively the defending champion and the current favourites to lift the United Cup at the end of next week.

Germany, who won the Cup last year by winning four of five ties, is again being led by Alexander Zverev who picked up where he left off 12 months ago, with a resounding win over Thiago Monteiro to give the current title holders an unassailable lead in their Group F tie against Brazil.

But he had the luxury of knowing that Germany led 1-0 when he stepped on court thanks to the earlier success of Laura Siegemund who came through a two-and-a-half-hour marathon to beat Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3 1-6 6-4.

She managed to hold off her much higher ranked opponent in what was a roller-coaster of a match, by using her better tactical knowledge to make her recovery in the second set to force a deciding set and offset the more powerful Brazilian’s strengths.

After falling behind to trail 3-1 in the opening set, she reeled off five consecutive games to pocket the opening set, but Haddad Maia struck back well in the second to keep herself in the rubber but, in the crucial third, Siegemund recovered her poise and using a series of lobs and drop shots, gained the upper hand and a well-earned victory with a decisive break in the ninth game to serve out to love.

“It’s the first match of the year against such a great player, it’s not easy,” Siegemund admitted later. “So I have to, out of the pocket, pull my best game basically, and I just tried to focus on that and stay cool in the [big] moments.

“The match, today, it wasn’t perfect. For nobody it is, at the beginning of the year. But I tried to stay in it, I tried to stay positive, and hopefully that’s giving me some confidence for the next matches.”

(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

That set the scene for an exciting day at the RAC Arena in Perth and some more dramatic matches were expected, but for that, spectators had to wait for the next tie for Zverev was quick to dismiss Monteiro 6-4 6-4 in just 77-minutes with a clinical performance.

He broke the Brazilian early in both sets, delivering a total of 11 aces and dropping just three points on his first set throughout the contest.

Not surprisingly, he was happy with his performance and the start made by Team Germany.

“I’m very happy to be back playing for Team Germany again,” Zverev said. “Perth is one of my favourite cities in Australia… and I’m enjoying my time on the court.

“I think this is the first time we’ve been up 2-0 in a tie. Last year we were playing a deciding match every single time so it’s nice to know that we’ve got this one in the bag already.”

And they finished off the day by winning the mixed doubles as well to complete a 3-0 whitewash of the Brazilian who now, with two losses, prop up the Group table and have little chance of making the final stages.

For the record Siegemund partnered Tim Puetz in the dead rubber to defeat Carolina Alves and Rafael Matos 7-6(8) 6-4 in two-hours and 8-minutes which completed a very satisfying days’ work, allowing the team to sit back and take stock of their main rivals, the USA, in their endeavours against Canada.

Coco Gauff scontributed two wins to the US’s tally

(Photo by Will Russell/Getty Images)

And those endeavours eventually secured an American victory in Group A which they completed 6-minutes short of 1 am when the mixed doubles rubber finally settled the outcome of the tie to bring the curtain down on an extremely entertaining evening.

First it was Coco Gauff and she, as the world No.3 did what was expected. Her baseline play, power and court coverage proved too much for Leylah Fernandez whom she dismissed 6-3 6-2 with the Canadian failing to repeat her success of 24-hours earlier, when she upset Croatia’s Donna Vekic.

The 20-year-old American got through the match in 96-minutes without dropping her serve once, saving the two break points she did face, losing just four points on her first serve.

“I’m super happy with how I played, and super happy to get a point on the board for my team,” Gauff said later. “I knew I was going to have to run a lot. Leylah can hit some crazy angles, so I was just trying my best to hit the best possible shot on them.”

The men’s world No.4, Taylor Fritz, followed to face Felix Auger Aliassime whose confidence could be said to have been severely dented by his three-set defeat to Borna Coric on Saturday, losing after delivering a first set bagel on the Croatian!

And another loss looked on the cards as Fritz, with an early break, took command and even served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

Felix Auger-Aliassime produced a remarkable performance to keep Canada in contention

(Photo by Will Russell/Getty Images)

Auger Aliassime had received some treatment which seemed to revitalise him, for, with a new burst of confidence, he held off Fritz and the broke him for the first time in the match to the snatch it from virtually under the American’s nose!

And with the match level, it was the Canadian’s turn to boss the match and he did it with some exciting tennis, reminiscent of the form which lifted him to No6 in the world two years ago.

And the crowd certainly appreciated the change in hm as the stunned Americans sat down after the two hour, 14-minute match was claimed by the jubilant Canadians 4-6 7-5 6-3.

And so, for the fifth time in the seven ties played in Perth so far, the deciding rubber was required to separate the two teams.

“It was a crazy night of tennis so far, it’s not over,” said Auger-Aliassime after his comeback win and referring to the deciding mixed doubles to come.

“I started slow in my first service game but after that it was a really high level, from Taylor as well. It was just a matter of finding ways tactically, changing my positions on the return. I decided to step in closer and dictate from the first shot and it worked perfectly. From that point on the match turned in my favour.”

Both teams brought their two top players back for that crucial match with Fritz determined to make amends for his loss earlier in the day and keep the American hopes alive to snatch the first set on a tiebreak and then the pair fought their way to claim, after one hour, 42-minutes of intense play, a 7-6(2) 7-5 victory and Team USA’s first win of the 2025 United Cup.
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Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz confer during the crucial mixed doubles

(Photo by Will Russell/Getty Images)

“Really happy with how we played today in the mixed,” Gauff said. “I felt we got better the longer the match went. We had a lot of chances and finally we were able to stick ’em when it mattered.”

“After the way I lost my singles match it would have been really tough to go home today with a mixed doubles loss as well,” Fritz admitted. “Thank you, Coco, for carrying the team and we got it done.”