Swiatek holds off Muchova; Poland advances to United Cup quarterfinals

Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz clinched their country's place atop Group B on Wednesday, defeating the Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova and Tomas Machac 7-6(3), 6-3 to seal the critical tie 2-1 and book Poland into its third United Cup quarterfinals. 

Poland will face Great Britain for a spot in the semifinals on Thursday. 

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"Honestly I was sure they were going to play amazing tennis because they have always great teams in doubles and mixed doubles. They are kind of raised that way," Swiatek said. "But I knew that we have the game to win it. For sure we were leading from the beginning.

"In the first set it got tight at the end, but I kind of felt that we were leading anyway so in the tie-break we just used that. In the end it seemed that we had everything under control."

Both countries knew that they would move into the last eight of the mixed-teams competition with a win in the tie. But it was last year's runners-up who found a way through the tie to top their group and advance.

Hurkacz delivered his duo's 12th ace of the match to emerge victorious after one hour and 25 minutes. The Poles broke serve five times from 11 chances against the Czechs.

"Iga is just so solid and you really can count on her shots," Hurkacz said.

The Czechs can still earn a spot in the quarterfinals by finishing as the best-placed second-placed country in Sydney. Machac, Muchova and the rest of their team will need to follow Wednesday evening's Australia-Great Britain tie closely.

Earlier, World No.2 Swiatek notched a hard-fought 6-3, 6-4 victory over Muchova to deliver her 10th career United Cup singles victory. 

“Honestly, I love playing against Karolina because she always brings precision and intensity and a little bit of a different game than most of the girls,” Swiatek said. “So for sure it’s a challenge. I’m happy that even though I lost my serve when I thought it’s going to be easier, I’m happy that I got my intensity even higher in the last two games to break again.”

Swiatek leveled the Group B tie at one win apiece, after Machac had earlier moved the Czech Republic to the brink of the United Cup quarterfinals with a tense win against Hurkacz.

“Obviously I knew what’s at stake,” Swiatek said, “so in tough moments I just tried to loosen up my hand and force myself to not change any movements because of any thoughts. That’s the most important thing in tennis, to try and use your intuition as much as possible and I think I did that in the last rallies for sure.”

The tie will now come down to the mixed doubles, with the winner automatically grabbing one of the precious quarterfinal spots in the knockout stages.

World No.22 Muchova had troubled Swiatek in the past, garnering a win in their first meeting at 2019 Prague and pushing the Pole to three sets in their other two meetings, most notably a closely-contested Roland Garros final in 2023.

Indeed, a deep service return by Muchova gave the Czech the first break of the day and a 2-1 lead. But that initial stumble jolted Swiatek’s heavy groundstrokes into top form and she racked up four games in a row to lead 5-2.

Serving at 5-3, Swiatek swatted away two break points with backhand winners and grabbed the one-set lead. Both players were 6-for-9 at the net in the opening frame, but Swiatek was a perfect 2-for-2 on break points.

In the second set, Muchova clawed back from a break down to level proceedings at 4-4, but Swiatek found a pair of blistering backhands to reclaim the break and serve for the match. The former World No.1 needed to save one more break point, but wrapped up the win with a winning volley after 1 hour and 56 minutes of play.

In the day’s first match, Hurkacz won six more total points in a one-hour, 55-minute clash, but Machac persevered to emerge victorious 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 and give the Czech Republic the 1-0 lead.

“It was a difficult match from the beginning. I was a little bit tired from the match with Casper [Ruud],” Machac said. “It was a great match and Hubi is an unbelievable player. It’s always a pleasure to share the court with him. In the end, I was just fighting. I’m really happy with my mental [game] in the end.”

In Hurkacz and Machac’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting in last year’s Marseille quarterfinals, Hurkacz did not face a break point in a straight-sets victory.

Machac, who lost a nearly three-hour battle in his opening match of the season against Norway’s Casper Ruud, received leg rubs from coach and captain Daniel Vacek in the Team Zone during changeovers. He struggled to deal with his opponent’s second serve, as Hurkacz won a whopping 70 per cent of points behind his second delivery according to Infosys ATP Stats.

But seemingly out of the blue, Machac earned match point at 5-4 on the Pole’s serve. While Hurkacz saved a break point at 3-4 in the decider with a big backhand up the line, he could not stave off trouble again, launching a forehand long.

Machac roared in celebration and enjoyed the moment with Vacek just outside the Team Zone.

“In the end I was trying to be more aggressive, to push myself to the court,” Machac said. “It was great.”