Leylah Fernandez, Canadian teammates eliminated at United Cup by Greece
Canada places last in group in Australia; Injured Djokovic and Serbia also ousted
Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas helped Greece eliminate Canada from the United Cup with a 3-0 victory in group play on Wednesday in Perth, Australia.
Sakkari saved four set points in the first set and came back from down 3-1 in the second to defeat Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., 7-6 (2), 6-3, and secure a 2-0 lead for Greece, which advanced to the quarterfinals.
In the first match, No. 6-ranked Tsitsipas comfortably beat Toronto's Steven Diez 6-2, 6-3.
Tsitsipas's brother, Petros, and Despina Papamichail teamed to top Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime and Vancouver's Stacey Fung 7-5, 6-4 in mixed doubles.
WATCH | Tsitsipas, Papamichail complete sweep of Canada:
Canada opened the tournament with a 2-1 win over Chile on Sunday and would have advanced to the quarters as Group B winners with a victory versus Greece.
The Canadians (2-4) instead finished last in the group, behind Chile (3-3) and Greece (4-2).
The 18-country, mixed-team event in Sydney and Perth doubles as a warm-up for the Australian Open.
Serbia falls to host Aussies
Novak Djokovic continued to struggle with his wrist injury as Australia stunned Serbia with a 3-0 win in the quarterfinals.
Djokovic, who has had a problem with his right wrist during the tournament, found a way past Jiri Lehecka in Serbia's previous Group E match against the Czech Republic.
However, the world No. 1 struggled against Alex de Minaur as the Australian used a superb defence and a dominant serve to win 6-4, 6-4.
"When you go up against Novak you have to go out and enjoy it and back yourself, and no matter what keep fighting until the end," de Minaur said. "Today was my day and I'm happy that I was able to get the win."
Djokovic was clearly in discomfort against world No. 12 De Minaur and was twice treated by the physio during the first set.
Djokovic said he was not concerned about the injury.
"I have enough time to get myself in the right shape for the Australian Open, and that's what matters the most at this point," he said. "I think I'll be OK, to be honest. I knew that I probably wasn't going to be at my 100 per cent physically, emotionally, mentally, game-wise in the opening week of a season."
The Australian Open begins in Melbourne on Jan. 14.
It was Djokovic's first defeat in Australia since he lost his quarterfinal at the Australian Open in 2018.
WATCH | Sakkari sends Greece to quarterfinals, beating Fernandez:
Swiatek contributes to Polish sweep
Elsewhere, Poland also qualified for the semifinals with a 3-0 victory over China.
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek beat No. 14 Zheng Qinwen 6-2, 6-3 to give Poland a 2-0 lead after Hubert Hurkacz's 6-3, 6-4 victory over Zhang Zhizhen.
Polish pair Katarzyna Piter and Jan Zieliński sealed the sweep with a 6-3, 5-7, 10-7 win over You Xiaodi and Sun Fajing in the mixed doubles.
The Poland team will travel across Australia for Saturday's semifinals in Sydney, where they will play either France or Norway.
"I really wanted to go to Sydney especially because my coach (Tomasz Wiktorowski) told me that I can get three days off in Sydney afterwards," the 22-year-old Swiatek said. "So, for sure Bondi Beach is waiting for us.
"But for now we've got to focus on the semifinal and hopefully the final. I'm really happy with my game and how the atmosphere in the team is."
Earlier in Sydney, Caroline Garcia and Adrian Mannarino led France past Italy.
With files from The Associated Press
