Germany completed a memorable comeback in the early hours of Monday morning to knock off Poland 2-1 for the United Cup trophy.

After Alexander Zverev saved two championship points against Hubert Hurkacz, Zverev returned to Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney, Australia alongside Laura Siegemund to defeat Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek 6-4, 5-7, 10-4 in a match that ended at 12:45 a.m. local time. 

Germany battled from behind throughout the competition. The country finished second in Group D and scraped into the quarterfinals based on percentage of games won. Siegemund and Zverev won deciding mixed doubles matches on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to lift Germany to the title. 

 

Earlier on Sunday, No.1-ranked Swiatek gave Poland the early lead with a 6-3, 6-0 win against Angelique Kerber before Zverev and Germany leveled the championship. 

The match remained in the balance until Swiatek engineered the only break of the set. After saving three more break points on her own serve, Swiatek overpowered the Kerber serve to break to 5-3 and serve out the set. 

"I felt like she was really picking the right spots to play and she surprised me sometimes with her decision-making and choices," Swiatek said. "I knew she could play like that but I didn't have much time to get into the rhythm because she was really aiming sometimes these balls inside out."

Must See

Swiatek would run off a streak of nine consecutive games to complete the 70-minute win.

"I feel like I really improved during the preseason, and I'm happy that I played such solid matches here," Swiatek said. "It's really fun and it's really exciting to play with my teammates and for Poland. I'm really excited to win all my matches for Poland."

Despite her country’s loss, Swiatek continued her dominant form from a year ago. Her victory against against Kerber extended her active win streak to 16 matches, a stretch that began last fall with runs through Beijing and Cancun to end the season.