Swiatek bests Rybakina, sends Poland into second straight United Cup final

Iga Swiatek sent Poland soaring into their second straight United Cup final by battling past one of her most challenging rivals in their semifinal tie in Sydney on Saturday.

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In a clash between Top 10 players and Grand Slam champions, Swiatek bested Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina 7-6(5), 6-4, sealing an insurmountable 2-0 lead for the 2024 runners-up. Hubert Hurkacz had queued Swiatek up by giving Poland the 1-0 lead with a swift victory over Alexander Shevchenko.

“I think that’s the first time I was able to win with Elena on a faster surface, so it means a lot,” Swiatek said on court after her win. “I for sure didn’t start well, I felt like I [was] on the hand-brake a bit.
 
“I wanted to really work and change the momentum, and I’m happy that I kind of did that at the last possible chance in the first set. I kind of told myself that I’m not going to miss anymore, and I’m happy because for sure it was tough. It’s always tough against Elena.”

One of the rare players who regularly troubles five-time major champion Swiatek, 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina came into Saturday’s match having won four of their six previous meetings. Indeed, Rybakina’s deep, imposing hitting in the early stages again troubled Swiatek, who misfired on multiple forehands to cede a 5-3 lead to the Kazakh.

Staring down another deficit against Rybakina, Swiatek clicked into gear, accelerating through rally groundstrokes and breaking back for 5-5 on her fourth break point of that game. Swiatek then had two set points at 6-5, but Rybakina powered through a 13-minute game to hold on and scrap into the tiebreak.

After the first eight points of the breaker went to the returner, Rybakina fired two consecutive backhands long to give Swiatek another pair of set points. Swiatek converted her fourth chance after 72 minutes to narrowly close out the first set.

After missing out on two early break points in the second set, Swiatek took control for good by breaking Rybakina at love for a 4-3 lead. Swiatek had to use exceptional defense to save one break point in the final game, and the former World No.1 held on for the win. Swiatek now holds a 12-1 singles record at United Cup.

In the day’s opening match, Hurkacz continued his short and long-term redemption at the United Cup by dismissing Shevchenko 6-3, 6-2.

After losing both his singles matches in group play to Casper Ruud and Tomas Machac, Hurkacz backed up his quarter-final win over Billy Harris with a 58-minute victory over the Kazakhstani.

Hurkacz last year held two championship points in the tournament final against Alexander Zverev only to see the current World No. 2 rally to a comeback win and then team with Laura Siegemund to beat him and Swiatek in the deciding mixed doubles.

“The last match here gave me a little bit of confidence and I’ve been playing better with every single match,” Hurkacz said.

After struggling against the weight of shot in his defeats to Ruud and Machac, World No. 16 Hurkacz was the one to dictate from the baseline against Shevchenko. He was also dominated on serve, putting 76 per cent of his first deliveries into play, winning 80 per cent of first-serve points and 73 per cent of second-serve points.

Shevchenko played his best tennis early in the second set when he had more success moving Hurkacz out of the centre of the court, but after missing a 30-all opportunity in the fourth game, he made three unforced errors to get broken to love in the following game and never recovered.

Hurkacz now leads Shevchenko 4-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

At the end of the tie, Poland made it a clean sweep by winning the mixed doubles as well. Maja Chwalinska and Jan Zielinski made it 3-0 for the Poles by defeating Zhibek Kulambayeva and Shevchenko 6-4, 6-1 in 61 minutes.