SYDNEY: Former champions the United States returned to the final of the United Cup mixed team tournament with a fortuitous victory over the Czech Republic on Saturday and set up a title clash with Poland, who hammered Kazakhstan.

Tomas Machac looked set to draw the Czechs level at 1-1 in their semi-final and was serving for the contest against Taylor Fritz, but an apparent cramp took its toll and he lost three straight games before throwing in the towel at 7-6(4), 5-6.

The result gave the Americans an unassailable 2-0 lead that sent them through.

“It’s great to be back [in the final]. That was a crazy match, very physical and it’s not the way that I guess I wanted to win,” said Fritz.

“He said that he had been cramping for a couple of games. I didn’t notice. He was moving pretty well, I guess he was playing through it. It’s really humid in here ... tough conditions.”

Coco Gauff got the ball rolling for the 2023 champions with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over the tricky Karolina Muchova in a rematch of the Beijing final in October that the American won.

“It’s never easy against Karolina,” said world number three Gauff, who recovered from a break deep in the second set to get past Muchova in Sydney.

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

Last year’s runners-up Poland reached their second straight final at the $10 million tournament after Hubert Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek won their singles matches in style.

World number two Swiatek settled the tie with a battling effort against the big-hitting Elena Rybakina, securing a 7-6(5), 6-4 victory for a 2-0 lead at the Ken Rosewall Arena.

“I think this was the first time I was able to win against Elena on a faster surface,” said an exhausted Swiatek after the epic battle that lasted a little over two hours.

“It means a lot. I didn’t start well, I felt like I was on the handbrake a bit. I knew I had to do something because this match could go both ways. I wanted to change the momentum and I’m happy I did that in the last possible chance.

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

Hurkacz earlier beat Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 6-2 in less than an hour to help his team put one foot into the final.

“The last match here gave me a little bit of confidence and I’ve been playing better with every single match,” said Hurkacz, who downed Briton Billy Harris in the quarter-final after a couple of defeats in the group stage.

Poland, who were edged out by Germany in last year’s final, completed a clean sweep after Maja Chwalinska and Jan Zielinski beat Zhibek Kulambayeva and Shevchenko 6-4, 6-1.

The 18-team United Cup is a tune-up event for the Australian Open, which runs from Jan 12 to 26.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2025