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Germany defeats Australia’s comeback to face Poland in the United Cup final
With a thrilling 2-1 victory over the hosts Australia on Saturday, Germany advanced to the United Cup mixed team competition final and set up a summit matchup with Poland, who thumped France 3-0.
In an extended semifinal that concluded well after two in the morning. After the teams split the singles, Germany’s mixed doubles pair of Laura Siegemund and Alexander Zverev defeated Matthew Ebden and Storm Hunter in the championship match at local time.
Germany had led thanks to a victory by Angelique Kerber over Ajla Tomljanovic, but Australia equalized when Alex de Minaur overcame Zverev 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, rallying behind the home crowd.
With just twenty-five minutes to spare between the singles and doubles rounds, Zverev persevered, teaming up with Siegemund to defeat the Australian duo 7-6(2), 6-7(2), 15-13 in a battle in which both players saved multiple match points.
“I thought the level of the match was extremely high, but it was disappointing after the singles match,” a cramped and fatigued Zverev remarked after spending five hours on the court.
“We were still in the tie and we still had a chance to win it and I’m happy that we did that today.”
After falling behind early in the match, Kerber overcame Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(7) to win in straight sets for the first time since taking an 18-month maternity hiatus.
“I just tried to play as many matches as possible before going to Melbourne. I tried to learn from my last three matches,” Kerber stated.
“Coming out here and winning such a tough battle means a lot to me. It means a lot to have a match like this before going to the Australian Open.”
The Australian Open takes place from January 14–28.
Polish Advance
Prior to that, world No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz defeated Adrian Mannarino’s late comeback attempt 6-3, 7-5, giving top-seeded Poland a 1-0 lead in the $10 million competition, which got underway last week with 18 nations competing.
Caroline Garcia presented a greater challenge for world number one Iga Swiatek, as she lost the first set before regaining her best form and winning 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Before this month’s Australian Open, Swiatek won her fourth straight singles match after taking an early double break to lead 4-0 in the decider. The 22-year-old never looked back.
“I’m happy that I came back and I didn’t make so many mistakes as in the first set,” Swiatek stated. “Caro was definitely applying pressure, as usual, but I’m relieved that we made it to the final.
“Hubi had a fantastic game today. It was pleasant to observe him in control of everything. It definitely made things a little bit simpler for me.”
Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Elixane Lechemia 6-3, 6-3, to complete the sweep.
