SYDNEY, Australia — Third time’s the charm! Poland, after falling in the 2024 and 2025 finals, won their first United Cup championship, defeating Switzerland 2-1 Sunday evening at Ken Rosewell Arena.
In comeback fashion following Iga Swiatek’s defeat to Belinda Bencic, Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz leveled the tie before mixed doubles heroes Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski won the decider to claim the throne. It was the duo’s third-straight deciding win to spoil Switzerland’s first appearance in the United Cup final.
Kawa and Zielinksi finished 5-0 in mixed doubles, and knocked off previously unbeaten Bencic and Jakub Paul. In the first set, Kawa had a match-altering set point volley at the net on 40-40 deciding point leading 5-4.
The mixed doubles defeat was Bencic’s lone the entire tournament, finishing with an incredible 9-1 record and earning the tournament’s most valuable player award. Bencic’s formidable run included a 5-0 record in singles with two top 10 wins, over No. 2 Swiatek and No. 8 Jasmine Paolini, and she adds 500 ranking points to her name.
Bencic won 12 of the final 15 games against Swiatek, earning her second career victory over the World No. 2 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. The first set seemed the tie’s first match was going to belong to Swiatek, but the pendulum quickly shifted the momentum into the World No. 11’s favor.
“It’s always a challenge playing against her and every time I play her, I look for ways to improve and make her life a bit more difficult,” Bencic, who defeated Swiatek for the first time in over four years, said on court. “I think the difference today was I played very freely, I was really enjoying myself out on the court and I was just really going for it.”
Swiatek started strong early, holding serve in the opening game with four straight points followed by the match’s first break and another hold. With Swiatek up 3-0, Bencic did settle into the match, winning two consecutive games of her own, cutting the deficit to 3-2 after a backhand winner on the third break point. The six-time Grand Slam champion eventually closed out the set, winning three of the next four games.
The second set, however, would be a Bencic domination with a bagel to force a deciding third set. Bencic started the second set winning nine consecutive points, and in the third game, she saved two break points. The following game, she’d get the crucial break on the third chance and finished the set in 33 minutes.
“To be honest, I felt I was in the match from the very first point,” Bencic said. “I thought I was going great and I was 0-3 down. I was ‘OK, what do I have to do.’ I think I just tried to keep the level and just wait for some chances.”
After three consecutive games with service holds to begin the third, Bencic notched the turning point. With a powerful forehand to set up break point, she took advantage of the crucial point, returning Swiatek’s serve with a convincing backhand winner. Following a service hold, Bencic put herself within two games of the win, leading 4-1, and capitalized.
Swiatek fought to the last point, holding two games of serve and saving two match points with a pair of aces, but Bencic’s backhand winner on the third match point sealed the win.
To level the tie under high pressure, Hurkacz dropped 18 aces on Wawrinka and saved eight of the nine break points he faced, highlighting the lone chink in the 40-year-old’s armour this week. Although Wawrinka claimed a critical break en route to winning the second set, the three-time Grand Slam champion converted just two of 23 break point opportunities across his five singles matches during the event.
Hurkacz won four of his five singles matches this week, capping a triumphant return from a seven-month injury layoff after knee surgery.
The 28-year-old former World No. 6 redeemed two heartbreaking losses in the past two United Cup finals. In 2024, he held two championship points before falling to Alexander Zverev. Last year, Taylor Fritz denied him in a third-set tie-break. This time, Hurkacz came in the clutch to spearhead Poland’s comeback to claim the championship.
