Poland Powers Into United Cup Semifinals—and Rematch vs. United States

By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, January 9, 2026
Photo credit: United Cup Facebook

Poland presented a unified front to power past Australia into the United Cup final four for the fourth year.

Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa shredded John-Patrick Smith and Storm Hunter, 6-4, 6-0 clinching Poland’s 2-1 victory over Australia at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney—and securing its semifinal spot in the United Cup for the fourth straight year.

“It was a very emotional match,” Zielinski said of the mixed doubles clincher. “All four of us have been sitting on the bench for a good five, four hours watching around. There was a lot of emotion building up leading towards that match, a lot of responsibility and pressure. 

“That was kind of my way to let it out and get myself fired up, get Katia fired up, show we’re there to fight, to show that we’re capable of winning this match, that even though it was a tough environment, we were ready to fight and face it.”

Next, Poland will take the fight to defending-champion United States in a rematch of a quality 2024 United Cup final. The winner of the USA vs. Poland semifinal will play either Belgium or Switzerland in the United Cup final.

World No. 2 Iga Swiatek was a formidable force blitzing Australia’s Maya Joint 6-1, 6-1 in a 57-minute thrashing to stake Poland to a 1-0 lead in tonight’s opener.

Swiatek served 72 percent and did not drop serve dispatching Joint with ruthless resolve.

“I had a clear plan of what I wanted to do. I just focused on that,” Swiatek said. “Wanted to be intensive from the beginning, put pressure on Maya, and it worked.

“Every ball mattered. I didn’t want to give any free points. I also kind of felt the court a bit better than the last two matches and used of the opportunities that I had.”

Alex de Minaur showed stiff resolve fending off a resurgent Hubert Hurkacz, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to level the tie and force the decisive mixed doubles match.

After de Minaur spent two hours, 18-minutes on court in singles, captain Lleyton Hewitt opted to start Smith alongside Hunter in the mixed doubles rather than pushing the Australian No. 1 in back-to-back matches.

“I think with Alex, he was feeling a few tweaks the last few days, as well,” captain Hewitt said. “He’s been doing a lot of training in the off-season to get ready for five-set matches. 

“We decided the best thing for his body moving forward was not to put his hand up to play mixed tonight. It is tough though, as well, to make a decision so quickly. 

“Also, if you are that second match, to turn around straightaway and switch on. You just don’t want to risk injury as well at certain times, especially the amount of moving he had to do tonight against a bloody quality player out there.”

A year ago, Coco Gauff surprised Swiatek, 6-4, 6-4, in the United Cup semifinals and Taylor Fritz out-dueled Hurkacz in a gripping third-set tiebreaker to lead the United States to the United Cup.

Swiatek said courage will be key to her rematch vs. Gauff in a clash of two of the world’s top four-ranked players.

“I’m going to prepare the plan tomorrow. For sure it’s a good match, like exciting for the fans I think,” Swiatek said. “But I’ll focus on my singles. Obviously we know each other’s game pretty well with Coco. 

“The key for me will be just to focus on myself, try to implement the stuff that I worked on during the pre-season and be brave with the decisions. Yeah, we’ll see.”