Heading into the United Cup, Kazakhstan was not viewed as one of the favorites. Alexander Shevchenko was among the doubters.

“If you would ask me that we would be in the semis,” he told reporters a few days ago, “I would probably doubt it.”

His captain, Aleksandr Nedovyesov, was incredulous.

“Why would you doubt it?” he asked.

United Cup: Scores | Draws | Order of Play

“I doubt just because of me,” Shevchenko said, drawing laughter from the assembled media. “Elena [Rybakina] is always bringing the point no matter what, and I have more confidence in her than in myself, to be honest.”

And yet, No.9-seeded and undefeated Kazakhstan finds itself in Saturday’s Sydney semifinals opposite Poland. Indeed, Rybakina is 3-0 in singles and 1-0 in doubles -- but Shevchenko, who is ranked No.78, with a career-high of No.45, has won two of three singles matches. He upset Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and handled Daniel Masur of Germany -- and paired with Rybakina for the pivotal point against Spain.

Poland, a finalist here a year ago and led by Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz, will be a sterner test for both players. 

The second semifinal pits the undefeated and top-seeded United States against No.8 Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, we’re down to the final four in Brisbane and, after a weather intervention in Auckland, final six at the ASB Classic.

Must See

United Cup

Group C winner Kazakhstan (3-0) vs. Group B winner Poland (3-0)

Start time: (10:30 a.m. local, 6:30 p.m. ET)

[9] Alexander Shevchenko (KAZ) vs [2] Hubert Hurkacz (POL)
[9] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) vs [2] Iga Swiatek (POL)
[9] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) / Alexander Shevchenko (KAZ) vs [2] Iga Swiatek (POL) / Hubert Hurkacz (POL)

This one’s worthy of a Grand Slam final: World No.2 Swiatek versus No.6 Rybakina. They own six major titles between them, five belonging to Swiatek.

While Rybakina leads the head-to-head series 4-2, the players split last year with Rybakina winning the Doha final and Swiatek prevailing in the Stuttgart semifinals. And although you’d think hard courts would favor Rybakina’s big-serving game, they’re 2-2 on that surface.

Like Rybakina, Swiatek is 3-0 -- but she overcame the loss of a first-set tiebreak to chase down Katie Boulter of Great Britain in Thursday’s quarterfinals. This, after a grinding win over Karolina Muchova on Wednesday.

Swiatek, who took a medical timeout against Boulter, said she should be ready to go.

“I think so,” Swiatek said. “Honestly nothing bad happened. It hurt at the time, but I’ll have plenty of time to recover now.”

Will those difficult match wins help or hurt her against Rybakina?

“Honestly I’m happy,” Swiatek said, “because it’s a nice challenge, especially before a Grand Slam. Elena likes playing in Australia, so for sure it’s going to be a challenge. I think these two matches that I played will help me, because I know what I need to do and kind of I got through some tough moments.”

Shevchenko will need to continue to defy gravity. He’s lost all three previous matches against Hurkacz -- in a span of just over a year.

“We are going to Sydney,” Shevchenko said after the quarterfinal in Perth. “Let’s not stop on that, and maybe we can make a final. Maybe we’re going to win the whole thing.”

Group A winner United States (3-0) vs. Group B runner-up Czech Republic (2-1)

Start time: (5:30 p.m. local, 1:30 a.m. ET)

[1] Coco Gauff (USA) vs [8] Karolina Muchova (CZE)
[1] Taylor Fritz (USA) vs [8] Tomas Machac (CZE)
[1] Coco Gauff (USA) / Taylor Fritz (USA) vs [8] Karolina Muchova (CZE) / T. Machac (CZE)

Gauff’s first United Cup campaign couldn’t be going better. She’s 3-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles with Fritz.

“I’m having so much fun,” Gauff said. “We have a great team, great vibes all around, and excited that we were able to move on to the next round of the tournament and hopefully all the way to the end.”

The Czech Republic feels the same way after producing two memorable singles victories over Italy. Muchova opened with a 6-2, 6-2 win over World No.4 Jasmine Paolini, then Machac did her one better, hammering Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 6-2 -- in 54 minutes.

“Today was unbelievable day for the Czech flag,” Machac said afterward. “I saw playing Karolina before me. She was playing unbelievable, so I said, `Why not me?’ I was just trying to play good as her, and I think I was playing great.

“So I was listening Karolina advice: We are not going for mixed doubles today. Just singles today.”

In singles, the Americans hold a collective 4-0 head-to-head advantage. Gauff is 3-0 versus Muchova, in the 2023 Cincinnati final, 2023 US Open final and 2024 Beijing final -- all in straight sets. Fritz beat Machac in their only previous meeting, a first-round five-setter at 2020 Roland Garros.

There’s another factor that favors the United States -- the schedule. Playing in Perth, the Americans won their quarterfinal match against China on Wednesday, then flew across the country to Sydney. The Czechs played Friday night and face a quick turnaround.

“We don’t have a day off, and we just finished,” Muchova said. “It’s pretty late, so I will see how I will wake up, I guess.

“But I take it very positively. It’s so good, especially before Melbourne is going to come, to have these tough matches.”

Brisbane International

Mirra Andreeva burst into prominence as a 16-year-old wild card two years ago in Madrid. Aryna Sabalenka ended her run in the Round of 16 with an emphatic 6-3, 6-1 victory. Andreeva, the youngest player to ever reach the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event, lost her first professional match of the year.

Sabalenka won the rematch last year in Madrid by a similar score, but Andreeva stunned the No.2-ranked Sabalenka with a three-set win in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. And now they meet again.

Sabalenka took care of Marie Bouzkova 6-3, 6-4, while Andreeva defeated Ons Jabeur 6-4, 7-6 (2). Andreeva, playing with Diana Shnaider, is also alive in doubles.

The other semifinal features qualifier Polina Kudermetova, the younger sister of No.17-ranked Veronika, against Anhelina Kalinina, seeking her third WTA Tour-level final.

[Q] Polina Kudermetova vs. Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) 
[1] Aryna Sabalenka vs. [8] Mirra Andreeva 

Auckland’s ASB Classic

No.7 seed Naomi Osaka and Robin Montgomery were already into the semifinals when rain ended play on Friday.

That means Saturday’s lineup is packing added value, with No.1 seed Madison Keys down a set to No.5 Clara Tauson and Americans Katie Volynets and Alycia Parks still to start.

[1] Madison Keys (USA) vs. [5] Clara Tauson (DEN) [4-6, 4-3]
[8] Katie Volynets (USA) vs. Alycia Parks (USA) 
[1] Keys (USA) or [5] Tauson (DEN) vs. Robin Montgomery (USA) 
[8] Volynets (USA) or Parks (USA) vs. [7] Naomi Osaka (JPN)