Coco Gauff beats Iga Swiatek for fourth match in a row – but USA then dumped out of United Cup by Poland | Tennis News

Coco Gauff beat Iga Swiatek for the fourth match in a row to lay down a marker ahead of the Australian Open – but then lost in the mixed doubles as defending United Cup champions USA were dumped out by Poland at the semi-final stage in Sydney.

Gauff defeated Swiatek 6-4 6-2 to level the tie at 1-1 after Taylor Fritz had been beaten by Hubert Hurkacz in the men’s singles.

The 21-year-old then joined Christian Harrison for the mixed doubles, where the American pairing were bested by Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski in two tie-breaks as Poland set up a clash with Switzerland on Sunday and ended the USA’s hopes of a third title in four years.

Poland will now hope to claim a maiden United Cup crown after finishing runners-up to Germany in 2024 and USA last year.

World No 4 Gauff had lost 11 of her first 12 meetings with world No 2 Swiatek but then defeated her at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh before triumphing during the final of the 2025 United Cup as USA earned a 2-0 victory over Poland.

Gauff then trounced Swiatek 6-1 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open last May while she was the much stronger player during Saturday’s straight-sets win, ahead of a potential meeting in Melbourne during the first Grand Slam of the year from January 18.

The American took a 4-1 lead in the first set and although Swiatek rallied to make it 4-4 by winning 12 consecutive points, Gauff stopped the rot by holding serve and then claimed a decisive break.

Gauff rushed 5-0 up in the second set before an error-strewn Swiatek staved off three match points to avoid being bageled – but that only delayed the inevitable.

“I didn’t let the opportunities that I had on the first few times I had match points get away from me,” said Gauff.

“She played well. Maybe there was one error on the backhand, but after that, she played the better tennis. But I knew that how I was playing the whole match I would get it done.”

Still, it is now Swiatek, not Gauff, targeting United Cup glory.

Bencic deals with pressure to take Switzerland into first final

Switzerland are into their first United Cup final following a 2-1 victory over Belgium in which Belinda Bencic won both of her matches.

The Swiss women’s No 1 defeated Elise Mertens in singles and then combined with Jakub Paul to see off Mertens and Zizou Bergs 6-3 0-6 10-5 in the deciding mixed doubles after Bergs had beaten veteran Stan Wawrinka in the men’s singles.

Bencic, the world No 11, has now won all eight United Cup matches she has played in (four in singles and four in doubles) and said afterwards: “I was so stressed, I really wanted to do well.

“I felt so much pressure to not let my team down. It feels like 170 kilos fell off my shoulders.

“I was really focused on myself, on breathing, and I’m super happy that I stayed tough in the important moments.”

Sablenka reaches third straight Brisbane final

World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka has reached the final of the Brisbane International for the third year in a row and will now face Marta Kostyuk in Sunday’s showpiece.

Sabalenka – who won this event in 2025 after losing to Elena Rybakina in the final the previous season – beat Karolina Muchova 6-3 6-4, snapping her three-match losing streak against the Czech.

Kostyuk then booked a showdown with the top seed by defeating fourth seed Jessica Pegula 6-0 6-3, securing a third straight win over a top-10 opponent.

The Ukrainian overcame Amanda Anisimova in the last 16 and then Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals, also in straight sets.

In the men’s final in Brisbane, top seed Daniil Medvedev will take on Brandon Nakashima after the players saw off Alex Michelsen and Aleksandar Kovacevic respectively in straight sets in the semi-finals.

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