No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek won her singles match Saturday after Hubert Hurkacz gave her team the early lead over France to advance Poland to the United Cup mixed teams final.
Swiatek won 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 over Caroline Garcia while ATP No. 9-ranked Hurkacz’s 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Adrian Mannarino gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead. For good measure, Poland later won the mixed doubles for a final 3-0 score line.
Australia plays Germany in the other semi-final later Saturday, with the winner to face Poland in Sunday’s final, also at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.
Swiatek said she need to make a “big adjustment” after her opening-set loss to Garcia.
“I was making bad decisions and I needed to be more composed,” Swiatek said. “After the break after the first set, I came back more focused, so I’m pretty proud of myself.”
Hurkacz won 31 of 36 points on his first serve and had 15 aces.
“He’s really difficult to play against; I was just fighting for every point and I was able (to) stay positive and was really resilient today,” Hurkacz said.
Top-seeded Poland lost just one match in the group stage of the tournament in Perth before beating China 3-0 to reach the final four for the second straight year.
In the Australia-Germany semifinal, Ajla Tomljanovic is scheduled to lead the tie-off for the hosts against Angelique Kerber before Alex de Minaur takes on Germany’s Alexander Zverev.
Mixed doubles will see the Australian team of Storm Hunter and Matt Ebden take on Laura Siegemund and Maximilian Marterer of Germany, although late changes can be made.
