Team Poland has progressed to Sunday afternoon’s United Cup final, after clinching a 2-1 semi-final victory over Team USA in tense scenes at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.
Avenging their defeat in last year’s final — where the United States secured a second title with a dominant 2–0 victory — Poland now advances to its third consecutive United Cup final.
With the tie forced into a mixed doubles decider, Coco Gauff and Christian Harrison battled Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa well into the early hours of the morning.
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Coco Gauff of Team USA reacts during her semi-final singles victory over Poland’s Iga Swiatek at the United Cup. Andy Cheun via Getty Images
After snaring an early break, Poland saw its advantage erased as the Americans pulled level. Serve remained dominant thereafter, forcing the opening set into a high-stakes tie-break.
Poland recovered a mini-break before Zielinski sealed the first set 7-6(5) with a powerful backhand return.
“They just keep winning the bigger points, Team Poland,” Todd Woodbridge said in commentary for Nine.
The second set played out on serve until the American duo broke in the seventh game, shifting the pressure back onto the Poles.
The Aussie tennis summer kicks off with the 2026 United Cup from Friday, January 2. Watch it live and free on Nine and 9Now.
A double fault from Harrison put the set back on serve at 5-5, but Team USA quickly earned another opportunity to serve it out.
In another dramatic momentum swing, two huge returns from Team Poland saved two set points to force deuce. The Poles then grab the 12th game to force another seven-point tie-break.
Securing a vital mini-break, Team Poland clinched the second set 7-6(3) to finalise the victory in one hour and 45 minutes.
Earlier, to keep Team USA’s title hopes alive, Gauff displayed total dominance to stun Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-2, levelling the tie at 1-1.
Gauff survived a rocky start to the rubber, fending off four break points in her first service game before breaking Swiatek in the fourth to race to an early 4-1 lead.
While Swiatek got the game back on serve and held to peg back the deficit, Guaff broke again in the 10th game to clinch the opening set 6-4.
In the second set, Gauff weathered four deuces in the second game to secure a crucial break before consolidating to move up 3-0.
Gauff then capitalised on another lengthy game, snaring a double break in the fourth to establish a vice-like grip on the match.
Despite Swiatek’s attempt to hang on, Gauff claimed the second set 6-2 to secure a comprehensive victory in one hour and 40 minutes.
Backing up after his marathon three-setter against Aussie Alex de Minaur on Friday night, Hubert Hurkacz powered past Taylor Fritz 7-6(1), 7-6(2) to hand Poland an early 1-0 lead.
The opening set played out on serve, with the Pole showing great resolve to rescue the 10th game after a tense three-deuce battle.
With a seven-point tie-break required to decide the opener, Hurkacz snagged an early mini-break, only for Fritz to respond immediately by breaking back.
However, Hurkacz soon took control following a string of unforced errors from Fritz, leveraging his massive first serve to claim the opening set 7-6(1).
History was on Hurkacz’s side, as in their previous six meetings, the player who secures a tie-break has gone on to win the match every single time.
The second set mirrored the first as both men dominated on serve, though Fritz was forced to dig deep to save a crucial break point in the sixth game.
Another seven-point tie-break was needed to separate the pair. A double fault gifted Fritz an early mini-break, but the advantage was short-lived as Hurkacz quickly drew level.
Finding himself in command once more, Hurkacz finished off the tie-break 7-6(2) to seal the match in just over an hour and a half.
Team Poland will now face Team Switzerland in what will be their first final after the Swiss reigned supreme, edging out Belgium 2-1 earlier in the day.
Poland is chasing a first United Cup title after finishing as the tournament’s runner-up in both 2024 and 2025.
Bergs heroics not enough as Switzerland wins mixed doubles shootout
In the opening singles rubber, Belinda Bencic extended her flawless start to the season by outlasting Elise Mertens 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(0) to hand Switzerland a 1-0 lead.
Bencic’s clinical tie-break performance ensured her undefeated run at the tournament remained intact.
But Zizou Bergs soon hit back for Belgium, forcing a winner-takes-all mixed doubles rubber after claiming a gruelling 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 victory over Stan Wawrinka.
Battle-tested by soaring temperatures, Bergs’ resilience levelled the semi final at 1-1.
Competing in his final season on tour, three-time grand slam champion Wawrinka played inspired tennis but found his opponent’s serve difficult to crack.
The tie then rested on the mixed doubles, where Switzerland’s Bencic and Jakub Paul claimed a dominant 6-3 opening set before Mertens and Bergs turned the match on its head.
The Belgians tore through the second set 6-0 to force a 10-point match tie-break to decide which nation would be the first to advance to the final.
A crucial mini-break for Bencic and Paul at 4-all proved to be the catalyst for Switzerland, propelling them to a 6-3, 0-6, [10-5] victory.
The Bencic-Paul partnership remains a perfect four-from-four this week, with three of those victories serving as the decisive tie-clinchers.