Poland qualified for the final of the United Cup mixed team tournament with a 2-0 win against France on Saturday as Hubert Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek defeated their singles opponents.
According to Opta, Swiatek has now notched up her 15th consecutive WTA match win. However, this is a dangerous sign for her opponents as Swiatek has only won 15 straight matches once previously, going on to claim 37 straight in 2022.
World No. 9 Hurkacz staved off a late comeback attempt by Adrian Mannarino and prevailed 6-3 7-5, handing top seeds Poland a 1-0 lead in the $10 million tournament, which began last week with 18 countries in contention.
Swiatek endured a more challenging outing against Caroline Garcia, as the world No. 1 dropped the opening set before rediscovering her top level and winning 4-6 6-1 6-1.
An early double break in the decider put Swiatek ahead 4-0 and the 22-year-old never looked back from there as she claimed her fourth straight singles win of the season ahead of this month's Australian Open.
"I’m happy that I came back and I didn’t make so many mistakes as in the first set," Swiatek said on court, after her win. "For sure, Caro was putting pressure as usual, so I’m happy that we’re through to the final.”
“Sometimes it’s a bit hard to point [to] one thing that changed [after the first set]. I just feel like I needed to calm down a little bit and not rush it, and also observe the ball a little bit more, because I felt like I was sometimes off the timing. Maybe because we came from Perth, but for sure I needed some time to adjust, and I did that, so I’m happy.”
Hosts Australia and Germany face off later in Sydney's Ken Rosewall Arena for a spot in Sunday's final against Poland.
The Australian Open will be held from January 14-28.
— Additional input from Reuters
