Sydney, Dec 30 (IANS): Iga Swiatek won the women's singles match and then came back to team up with Jan Zielinski to win the missed doubles and power Poland to a memorable 2-1 victory against Norway in a Group B clash of the United Cup here on Monday. After Swiatek and Casper Ruud earned singles wins in front of the Sydney fans, Swiatek and Zielinski battled past Ulrikke Eikeri and Ruud 6-3, 0-6, 10-8 to clinch the tie for their country.
"It's still the old year, so I'm happy to finish it like that," Swiatek said. "I'm really happy that I could play with Jan and show our game. It was pretty tight, but I'm happy that at the end we stepped up the level and we finished it so Poland could win," she was quoted as saying by the official website of the United Cup.
Swiatek came out firing and defeated Malene Helgo 6-1, 6-0 in the women's singles to give Poland the lead. But Ruud kept alive Norway's chances by beating Hubert Hurkacz 7-5, 6-3 to force a deciding mixed doubles encounter.
Chants of "Ruuuuuuud!" rang out through the Sydney night to combat shouts of 'Poland! Poland!' Fans were on the edge of their seats as the match reached its climax. Norway led the Match Tie-break 8/6 and Ruud held two serves at 8/7, but lost both of those points.
"Even though the second set was 0-6, we knew it was very close. It was a matter of single points, deciding points, 0/30 we had a couple of times. We knew this could change at any moment," Zielinski said after the match. "They had their momentum at some point, 8/7 serving, Casper, so we were not in the ideal position. But we stayed tough, we showed some good returns and best tennis when it mattered, so I'm happy with the outcome."
With the result, Norway has been eliminated from the United Cup. The winner between Poland and Czechia on Wednesday will win Group B and advance to the quarterfinals of the mixed-teams competition.
All the pressure was on Ruud in his singles match against Hubert Hurkacz. But Ruud responded with a top performance inside Ken Rosewall Arena. The No. 6 player in the ATP Rankings surged past the Pole in one hour and 23 minutes to keep his country's hopes alive.
"I think [it was] almost an error-less match... Not many unforced errors, except for maybe one or two there [in] the last game," Ruud said. "But very happy with my performance. It was solid with a good game plan and I was able to execute it well.
"Of course, you always go out on court with a game plan, but you also have to execute it. It's not just given that you will do everything you want to do. So I'm happy that I was able to play well tonight. And I knew I had to against Hubi, he's a great player," Ruud was quoted as saying on the official website.
It was not as dominant as Swiatek's 6-1, 6-0 victory against Helgo to begin the tie. But Ruud's effort was impressive nonetheless.
Hurkacz's serve is consistently one of the toughest to break on the ATP Tour. Ruud managed to do so twice to force a deciding mixed doubles match.
World No. 2 Swiatek laid down a marker in her season opener with her defeat of No. 404 Helgo. "I'm happy for sure with the performance," Swiatek said. "It's not easy to play for your country, sometimes the pressure is bigger. I'm really excited, like every year. I feel like I can take so much energy from that, from the people, from the fans. As you can see, as with every year, we filled out half the stadium with Polish people."
Swiatek, 23, led the WTA Tour in match wins (59) and titles (5) in the 2024 season, and she looked as sharp as ever in her season debut. With new coach Wim Fissette sitting in the Team Zone, Swiatek overpowered Helgø from the baseline to tally her first win of the season. Swiatek won the first nine points of the match and raced through the 24-minute opening set behind eight forehand winners, four backhand winners, and just two unforced errors. She held Helgo to just two winners off the ground.
Helgo, 25, has emerged as a United Cup stalwart for Norway, having competed in all three editions. Away from the annual competition, she has yet to compete at a tour-level event, peaking at a career-high No. 317 in the WTA Rankings. She has won nine titles on the ITF World Tennis Tour. Swiatek continued her march through a clinical second set. After coming through a 10-minute game to break Helgø, converting her seventh break point for a 3-0 lead, Swiatek sprinted across the finish line to seal a 62-minute win.