FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Davis Cup - Finals - Spain v South Korea - Pabellon Fuente de San Luis, Valencia, Spain - September 17, 2023 Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in action during his singles match against South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo REUTERS/Pablo Morano/File Photo
PERTH (Reuters) - Alejandro Davidovich Fokina guided Spain to a 2-1 victory over Brazil on the opening day of the United Cup mixed team event on Friday as the new tennis season began following a short break ahead of next month's Australian Open.
Davidovich Fokina and mixed doubles partner Sara Sorribes Tormo beat the pair of Beatriz Haddad Maia and Marcelo Melo 6-4 7-5 in the decider of the Group A tie at the $10 million event that features 18 countries and will also have ties in Sydney.
World number ones Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek are among the big names who will be in action in the coming days as they warm up for the opening Grand Slam of the new year, which will take place from Jan. 14-28 in Melbourne.
United Cup debutant Davidovich Fokina earlier put Spain up 1-0 by defeating Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-4 6-0 in the first match of the 2024 season, dominating his opponent from the baseline and not facing a break point throughout the contest.
But Brazil hit back through world number 11 Haddad Maia, who downed Sorribes Tormo 7-6(1) 6-2 in a rematch of their marathon French Open fourth-round clash earlier this year to set up the mixed doubles decider.
Hosts Australia meet Britain in the day's late clash.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter)
