Poland tennis
SYDNEY — Poland bounced back from two consecutive runner-up finishes to win the United Cup after Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa beat Jakub Paul and Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-3 in the deciding mixed doubles match to complete a 2-1 comeback victory over Switzerland on Sunday.
Earlier, Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz beat Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to even the final after Belinda Bencic rallied from a set down to stun No. 2-ranked Iga Świątek 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, giving Switzerland a surprise lead.
Hurkacz was playing in a tournament for the first time in seven months after knee surgery sidelined the former No. 6-ranked player. He won four of his five singles matches, including victories over Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz.
Those triumphs will help ease the pain of defeats in the final over the past two years with a loss to Zverev in 2024 after the Polish player lost two championship points and another last year to Fritz in a tiebreaker.
“Finally, we made it — third time lucky,” said Świątek at the trophy presentation. “I really felt it was a team effort this year. Hubi, what a comeback after so many months. You played amazing. You inspired us all with determination. I feel you improved every part of our game. Our doubles team, wow! You just beat everyone. It was amazing.”
Bencic finally beat Świątek
Bencic, who had won all four of her singles and four mixed doubles matches this week, came into her match against Świątek having lost her last five matches against the former No. 1-ranked player.
It looked as if that trend was going to continue as Świątek started strongly and claimed the opening set 6-3 at Ken Rosewall Arena.
But the No.11-ranked Bencic shifted the momentum by winning nine consecutive points to open the second, evening the match in a swift 33-minute set.
The decisive third set hinged on a crucial break at 2-1, where Bencic capitalized on a powerful forehand to seize control. While Swiatek fought to save two match points with consecutive aces, her effort was hampered by an uncharacteristic 36 unforced errors, compared to just 10 from Bencic.
Bencic sealed the win with a sublime backhand winner into the open court on her third match point.
“To be honest, I felt I was in the match from the very first point,” Bencic said. “I thought I was going great and I was 0-3 down. I was ‘OK, what do I have to do.’ I think I just tried to keep the level and just wait for some chances.”
“I think the difference today was I played very freely, I was really enjoying myself out on the court and I was just really going for it.”