Poland has advanced to its third consecutive United Cup final after avenging its defeat in last year’s championship tie against the United States Saturday night in Sydney.
Hubert Hurkacz set the two-time runners-up on course to victory with a 7-6(1), 7-6(2) win over Taylor Fritz – the second Top 10 scalp of his comeback tournament. Coco Gauff then levelled the semi-final with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Iga Swiatek before Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa defeated Gauff and Christian Harrison 7-6(5), 7-6(3) in the deciding mixed.
Both teams were unbeaten coming into the do-or-die rubber, but Zielinski imposed himself on the match with an ultra-aggressive mindset. The Americans twice served for the second set and held three set points at 6-5 40/15 only to be turned away.
In Sunday’s final [5.30pm AEDT] Poland will play Switzerland, which advanced when its mixed doubles team of Belinda Bencic and Jakub Paul also won a fourth straight mixed doubles of the tournament.
Despite his own heroics, Zielinski was quick to heap praise on teammate Hurkacz, who is playing his first tournament since a knee injury ended his 2025 season last June.
“First of all hats off to Hubert who is playing incredible tennis in his first tournament in seven months and inspiring us to play like we did today,” Zielinski said. “He’s an inspiration to all of us.
“Tomorrow there will be a lot of emotions and hopefully we can show our best tennis.”
Earlier, Hurkacz continued a dream start to his comeback with a 7-6(1), 7-6(2) win against Taylor Fritz.
“Obviously playing Taylor is such a big challenge and it’s a very difficult match, especially this court, it’s quite fast. He’s serving very powerfully. Also, his forehand is really big, so if you leave anything short, he’s going to come after it,” Hurkacz told ATP No. 1 Club Jim Courier. “I felt like I played actually quite solid myself. I tried to be more aggressive. Actually during my time off I was watching some of my past matches and I was listening to your commentary. It’s a good help for players, as well!”
Hurkacz entered the mixed-teams event uncertain exactly what to expect after missing seven months due to a knee injury that required surgery. But in his first action since June of last year, the former No. 6 player in the PIF ATP Rankings has played dominant, big-serving tennis to help his country to the brink of the championship match against Switzerland.
[NO 1 CLUB]
The 28-year-old has now beaten Alexander Zverev, Tallon Griekspoor and Fritz in Sydney, claiming all three of those victories in straight sets. Hurkacz saved the two break points he faced against Fritz, which doubled as set points at 4-5 in the opening set, to earn the lead for his country in one hour and 35 minutes.
“Definitely pleasantly surprised in a way because I haven’t played in such a long time. In seven months, [this is] my first tournament. So coming back from such a long period the first time in my life, you never know what to expect,” Hurkacz said. “On the other hand, I was putting so much work outside of the court so, I give myself time to get back to my level, to an even better level and maybe a little bit less expectations coming into this week helped as well.”
Fritz led Hurkacz 4-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series as they stepped on court in sweltering heat, including two previous wins at the United Cup. But the Pole and his booming serve proved too much for the American.
Fritz’s biggest opportunity came with two set points in hand on Hurkacz’s serve, but the Pole wiped out those chances with huge serves. Hurkacz hit a critical backhand passing shot early in each of the two tie-breaks to take the lead and surged from there.
In her singles, Gauff displayed her dominance at its finest in a 6-4, 6-2 win over World No. 2 Iga Swiatek. The semifinal tie — a rematch of last year’s final — now heads to a mixed doubles decider to determine who will face Switzerland in Sunday’s final.
“I didn’t the let the opportunities that I had on the first two times I had match points get away from me,” said the World No. 4, who won on the fourth match point. “She played well. Maybe there was one error on the backhand, but after that, she played the better tennis, but I knew that how I was playing the whole match I would get it done.”
Gauff, who played her 16th matchup against Swiatek on the WTA Tour earned her fourth straight victory over her rival. That includes a 6-4, 6-4 win in last year’s United Cup, as well as wins at Madrid and the 2024 WTA Finals.
The two rivals traded a few holds initially as Gauff, who served first, took a 2-1 lead before notching the match’s first strike. She broke Swiatek and backed it up with a hold, amassing to a 4-1 advantage, but the Pole swiftly found herself back in the set.
Swiatek won 12 consecutive points to win three straight games a level the set at 4-4. She had the momentum, but Gauff remained calm and composed for the remainder of the 43-minute first set. She held serve, and on the ensuing Swiatek service game, the American No. 1 needed just one set point to close it out.
That momentum carried its way into the second, where Gauff bolted out to a 5-0 lead –Swiatek saved three match points to prevent the second set bagel to get two games back.
In the second and fourth games, Gauff needed three and four break point chances, respectively, to secure the game as each went into a long deuce. In the fourth, Swiatek even had multiple game points of her own, but the final two points saw Swiatek’s shots go long and wide, a common occurrence Saturday evening.
It wasn’t the same Swiatek that defeated Maya Joint 6-1, 6-1 a day prior, but a composed Gauff maintained complete control of the match throughout to keep her country alive in the semi-final tie.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
Source link
