Team Canada’s third-straight United Cup appearance wasn’t quite the charm as the Canucks just fell short of making their knockout stage debut in Sydney.
Canada’s No. 1s, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Victoria Mboko, led their side to a sweep over China in their opening tie on Sunday, but the two were unable to pick up a singles win on the final day of group play against Belgium on Tuesday. Mboko and Cleeve Harper teamed in mixed doubles, but the duo lost in three sets, eliminating Canada from quarter-final contention.
Mboko struggled early in her United Cup debut against Zhu Lin of China. The Torontonian was broken twice in a row to begin the match, leading to Lin comfortably taking the opening set.
However, Mboko brought some of her 2025 National Bank Open resilience into 2026. The world No. 18 responded with back-to-back breaks of her own to begin the second. At 4-2, Mboko went on to win eight-consecutive games to complete the comeback, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0.
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The remainder of the tie was more comfortable for Canada from start to finish. An early break in each set drove Auger-Aliassime to a 6-4, 6-4 win over Zhizhen Zhang to secure the victory for Canada. The world No. 5 later stepped back onto the court for mixed doubles alongside Mboko, with the Canadian No. 1s needing just an hour to seal their nation’s first-ever sweep in the competition, beating Rigele Te and You Xiaodi 6-1, 6-3.
Sitting atop of the group, Canada had to avoid being on the wrong end of a sweep against Belgium, who had lost their opening tie to China 1-2, to book their ticket into the knockout stages for the first time.
Auger-Aliassime had his serve broken for the first time in the competition in the opening game of his match with Belgian No. 1 Zizou Bergs. The Montrealer held two break points in the next game, but Bergs saved both, eventually taking the opener 6-4.
At 2-2 in the second, Auger-Aliassime was broken in back-to-back service games and Bergs went on to earn the biggest win of his career, 6-4, 6-2.
Mboko had to produce another comeback in her match against world No. 19 Elise Mertens. After dropping the opening set 6-3, the 19-year-old converted on an early break opportunity in the second to force a decider. However, Mboko lost serve at 1-2 and couldn’t see out the comeback on this occasion, falling 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
The Torontonian, along with Harper, needed a win over the Belgian No. 1s to keep Canada’s quarter-final hopes alive. The Canadians got off to a slow start, losing serve in the opening game, but managed to break back. However, Bergs and Mertens broke twice more in the set to hold the advantage.
Mboko and Harper remained composed to clinch the second, conceding just three points on serve in the set. Unfortunately for the Canadians, Bergs and Mertens got off to a strong start in the decisive third-set tiebreak, winning four of the first five points.
The Belgians held that cushion the rest of the way as Bergs and Mertens led their nation to the last eight – in Belgium’s first United Cup appearance since the inaugural 2023 edition – with a 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 win in mixed doubles.
Feature Photo: United Cup
