Iga Swiatek has set the tone for her 2025 season, and sent her nation through the United Cup final in the process.
The World No.2 took out longtime nemesis Elena Rybakina 7-6(5), 6-4 in a thrilling battle of two of the WTA’s most sensational talents on Saturday night in Sydney, and Swiatek’s satisfying victory ensured victory for Poland over Kazakhstan.
Poland is back in the final for the second consecutive year after falling to Germany in last year's final.
For Swiatek, who had lost four of her last five matches against Rybakina heading into the tilt, the victory represented a big step in the right direction against her rival on the hard courts.
Swiatek was down a break early in the opening set, but rallied with a break as Rybakina served at 5-4, then fought through the ensuing games and claimed the set in a tiebreak.
In the second set she broke at love to lead 4-3 and held serve the rest of the way to send Poland through to the final, where either Team USA or Czechia will be the opponent.
“I'm for sure happy with my performance, especially because I didn't start well,” Swiatek said. You know, it's not so easy to come back against a player as confident as Elena. I pushed myself to the limit. I told myself, you know, I'm not going to miss anymore.
So at the end, in the second set, I was able to keep it, even though for sure I felt pressure when I was closing the match, but I'm super happy with my game, because it's the first time I was able to win against her on a faster surface. I think it's a nice step forward. Obviously, every match with her is always hard and will be, but for sure it gives me confidence and more hope.”
Swiatek’s victory came after Hubert Hurkacz got Poland on the board with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Alexander Shevchenko. The World No.16 played a flawless match to improve to 2-2 on the season. Hurkacz, now coached by Nicolas Massu and Ivan Lendl, has needed time to find his game after debuting with a new, heavier racquet.
“Obviously it's a big change, and you need matches, as I mentioned before,” Hurkacz said. “And practicing with the racquet is something else than playing matches. So I was getting used to certain shots at the beginning, because the feedback is different from the ball. So I need to mentally adjust, because what I was used to after certain shot, I was expecting certain result, which with this racquet is a little bit different and better for me, I feel. But it still needs some adjustment on my part.”
Swiatek also has a new coach, Belgian Wim Fissette, and her progress is evident. She improved to 4-0 on the season with wins over Karoline Muchova, Katie Boulter and now Rybakina.