From giraffes reaching for titbits to cuddly koalas captivating their gaze, the ATP and WTA pros revelled in the company of Australian wildlife. It was a chance to unwind, reconnect with nature, and forge a deeper bond with the city that will soon witness their on-court battle cry.
But beneath the playful smiles and animal encounters, the competitive spirit was never far away. After their zoo escapades, the Greek team returned to the media spotlight, ready to dissect their United Cup aspirations and showcase the formidable force they bring to the tournament.
“It's charming to be in a team event again,” said the No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Stefanos Tsitsipas. “There's a lot of excitement that this holds. It's quite valuable for me personally. I've talked about how I enjoy team events in tennis, something that usually we lack as tennis players. We're mostly representing ourselves.
“United Cup is one of the most exciting competitions that tennis has at the moment. To be representing the Greek colours is something that you don't see in tennis that often. It's not something that we had before.”
For the second year running, the captain's armband for Team Greece rests on familiar shoulders. Petros Tsitsipas, Stefanos' brother and a fellow ATP Tour competitor, once again takes the helm. Under his leadership, the squad boasts a potent mix of firepower: the explosive serve-and-volley game of Stefanos Sakellaridis, the rising star of WTA tennis Despina Papamichail, and the experienced campaigner Valentini Grammatikopoulou alongside the formidable world No. 6 Maria Sakkari. This combination of youth, experience, and firepower promises to make Team Greece a force to be reckoned with in the United Cup.
"For us, they're big examples,” said the WTA World No. 94 Papamichail. “We follow them all the year, we look forward to playing with them. With Maria in Billie Jean King Cup and Stefanos in United Cup, which is a great opportunity for us to learn from them.
“They opened the doors and showed the way. We are trying to follow.”
Team Greece, which reached the semi-finals at the inaugural edition of the United Cup in 2023, will open its Group B campaign against Chile on Tuesday at the Sydney Olympic Park’s Ken Rosewall Arena.
“We already can't wait,” said captain Petros Tsitsipas. “We're shortly going to proceed with our practices and get our strokes going, our feet going, get used to the conditions. For us, it's still early to really tell how it's going to go.”
The 19-year-old Sakellaridis, who memorably defeated Zizou Bergs (a player then 674 places above him in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings) during Greece’s 2023 United Cup run, added: “Playing a team tournament last year was really fun. Way more fun than playing alone. You can share the joy on the court. You can work outside the court as a team, so that gives you extra motivation to practice.”