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SYDNEY, Australia – It’s no exaggeration to say that Félix Auger-Aliassime and Victoria Mboko picked right up where they left off in 2025, in their season debut at the United Cup Sunday night.

Canada swept the game but overmatched Chinese squad in sweeping the tie 3-0, and put themselves in good position to get through the group stages and into the knockout round later in the week.

First up was Mboko, playing her first match since the start of November when she held up her second WTA Tour trophy of the season in Hong Kong. She pulled it out going away, a 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 win over Zhu Lin.

United Cup – Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026 final results

The first set was rough against Zhu, an experienced 31-year-old whose current ranking of No. 162 belies a solid resumé that included a career high of No. 31 just two years ago – before injuries hit.

Zhu had the advantage of having already played two matches – singles and mixed doubles – against Belgium on the opening day.

And it looked that way. She pounded what the Tour now knows to be Mboko’s weaker side, the forehand, and just let her beat herself.

Here’s what it looked like.

Slow starts are nothing new for Mboko even when she’s match tough. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when she reset, began putting balls into the court, and stopped giving Zhu the waist-high, flat balls she loves to tee off on.

There was plenty of advice from coach Maxime Tchoutakian – a LOT of advice. All of it good.

“At the start of the match, I felt a little bit off in a way, getting used to the court, getting used to the balls. I’m glad that I kind of found .. some sort of momentum to kind of change the match around. Once I kind of got my groove, did what I was usually used to, then I found that I was a bit more myself in a way,” Mboko said.”

FAA in mid-season form

As for Auger-Aliassime, whose last match was a semifinal loss to Carlos Alcaraz at the ATP Finals about two weeks after Mboko ended her season, it was an impressive performance.

The 6-4, 6-4 score against the talented Zhang Zhizhen doesn’t quite illustrate how rather routine it was.

Here’s a look.

Zheng’s career high was also No. 31 (in July 2024). But he’s currently ranked outside the top 400 after an shoulder injury resulted in a six-month absence and him having to completely change his forehand.

“Really happy because it’s the first match of the year for both of us, first time playing mixed doubles. There’s a lot of firsts. With that comes a lot of uncertainty also, right? Obviously, (Mboko) had a very strong year. I had a strong year. There’s a bit of a break. You don’t know how you’re going to feel when you step on the court. You’re hoping for the best,” Auger-Aliassime said. ” Today I think in many moments it was close to our best. Happy with a 3-0 win, for sure.”

The only slight concern during the singles was how Auger-Aliassime struggled somewhat with the humidity. There are some players who are consistently affected by the heat and humidity, but Auger-Aliassime isn’t known to be one of them.

His personal trainer, Hugo Gravil, draped the ice towel around his shoulders on changeovers; it was a night match, and the temperature was in the low 20s Celsius. But with rain on and off – including a massive storm early on – the humidity was up at about 80 per cent.

“It didn’t get to the extent of affecting me. If I played five sets, yes. But I think it’s good that I’m here because I haven’t played in this humidity in a while. Finished the season indoors. Probably the last time was the semifinals in US Open where it was that humid, I had some cramps,” he said. “It was similar humidity, storm outside, this roof.

“Honestly, it was tough. I felt it a little bit in my legs in the second (set). Obviously being ahead in the match and being able to close it out with my serve, I didn’t have to dig that deep.”

A mixed debut

It was somewhat of a surprise that Auger-Aliassime and Mboko chose to play the mixed, having clinched the tie in the singles.

Of course, the tournament prefers their two designated team stars also play the mixed, which gives it a lot more credibility and interest especially in the absence of an Errani-Vavassori team, as the Italians have.

But in the end, if they do want to make a serious run in this event, they might have it come down to the deciding mixed. So since the singles wasn’t too taxing, it was probably a good call to at least get a match together.

Auger-Aliassime hasn’t played much mixed doubles, although he shone at the Olympics with Gaby Dabrowski. For Mboko, it was a first.

And they looked great in a 6-1, 6-3 victory that completed the sweep.

Here’s what it looked like from courtside.

The Chinese opted not to use their best players in the mixed, which they did to great effect in their opener Saturday when they upset Elise Mertens and Zizou Bergs, and took the tie against Belgium.

With Belgium playing Canada in the final pool match, that mixed might be a difference maker. Instead, then put in Te Rigele and You Xiaodi – who were game, but hugely overmatched.

“it was a pretty cool experience. To start the year off playing this kind of format that I’m not used to, it’s really stepping me out of my boundaries. I like it. I had a lot of fun today,” Mboko said.”

For Auger-Aliassime, a few thoughts crept in about the next Olympics, which is only two years away in Los Angeles.

“I thought it was great that we could share the court. I was even thinking during the doubles about the next Olympics ahead, thinking like this could be good. If we’re both still playing good tennis and healthy, there’s a lot of things that can happen,” he said.

Double duty meant a bit of a knee issue

One note of concern came towards the end of the mixed, when Auger-Aliassime sort of pulled up and grimaced, rubbing his left knee.

The first thought was sort of an “Oh, no, the top gun ends up getting hurt in a non-crucial mixed doubles match”. Which is always a concern in this type of event. A little less so now that, unlike Hopman Cup, there are actually ranking points at stake. But still.

The 25-year-old was still rubbing it out during the press conference following the victory.

He told Open Court that it wasn’t anything too concerning, more a function of the knee issue he’s had the last couple of years that he still has to carefully manage.

The culprit, he said, was the fact that he had to play, cool down, and then warm up and come right back out on court. It was a situation the knee doesn’t tend to respond well to.

Because of that, you wouldn’t suspect he’ll play the mixed against, unless he really has to. And it’s worth noting going forward, in terms of how many doubles events he might enter during the regular ATP Tour season.

Definitely not worth the risk.

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