The United States will play Poland in the United Cup final

After defeating the Czech Republic on Saturday, the United States, the reigning champions, advanced to the United Cup mixed team competition final and advanced to face Poland, who thrashed Kazakhstan.

Tomas Machac was serving for the match against Taylor Fritz and appeared to be on his way to tying the Czechs at 1-1 in their semi-final when an apparent cramp took its toll. He dropped three consecutive games before giving up at 7-6(4) 5-6.

The Americans advanced with an unassailable 2-0 lead as a consequence of the outcome.

“Being back (in the final) is fantastic. “I guess I didn’t want to win, but that was a crazy, physical match,” Fritz remarked.

He claimed to have experienced cramps during a few games. I was unaware. I suppose he was playing through it since he was moving very well. The humidity level here is pretty high.

In a repeat of the October Beijing final that the American won, Coco Gauff opened the scoring for the 2023 winners with a 6-1 6-4 triumph against the elusive Karolina Muchova.

“It’s never easy against Karolina,” said world number three Gauff, who defeated Muchova in Sydney after rallying from a break deep in the second set.

“The whole match I was intense and focused, and I think that made the difference today.”

Stylish wins

Hubert Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek won their singles matches in spectacular fashion, sending runners-up Poland to the $10 million championship for the second consecutive year.

At the Ken Rosewall Arena, world number two Swiatek defeated the powerful Elena Rybakina 7-6(5) 6-4 to take a 2-0 lead and end the match with a valiant effort.

An tired Swiatek said, “I think this was the first time I was able to win against Elena on a faster surface,” following the titanic struggle that lasted just over two hours.

“It has great significance. I started off feeling a little bit like I was on the handbrake. This battle might go any way, so I felt I had to take action. I’m glad I took advantage of the last opportunity to reverse the momentum.

“I told myself that I’m not going to miss anymore, and I’m happy because it’s always tough against Elena.”

In less than an hour, Hurkacz defeated Alexander Shevchenko 6-3 6-2 to give his side a head start in the championship match.

After a few losses in the group stage, Hurkacz defeated British player Billy Harris in the quarterfinals. “The last match here gave me a little bit of confidence and I’ve been playing better with every single match,” Hurkacz remarked.

Maja Chwalinska and Jan Zielinski defeated Zhibek Kulambayeva and Shevchenko 6-4 6-1 to clinch a clean sweep for Poland, who lost to Germany in the previous year’s final.

The Australian Open, which takes place from January 12 to 26, is a warm-up for the 18-team United Cup.