Poland, US, Greece and ‘lucky losers’ Italy into United Cup semis

In the semi-finals, Poland will face the US, who saw off Great Britain in Sydney, while the Italians will face off against Greece who prevailed 3-2 over Croatia in their Perth final

Poland, US and Greece all won their city finals on Wednesday to progress to the semi-finals of the inaugural United Cup where they will be joined by ‘lucky losers’ Italy. 

Matteo Berrettini edged the Italians ahead in their Brisbane final with a thrilling three-set win over Hubert Hurkacz but it was the Poles who came through to win the tie 3-2. 

In the semi-finals, Poland will face the US, who saw off Great Britain in Sydney, while the Italians will face off against Greece who prevailed 3-2 over Croatia in their Perth final.

Thursday is a day off, allowing all teams to travel to Sydney where the semi-finals commence on Friday.

Poland came through their tense battle with the Italians thank to victory in the deciding mixed doubles, where Iga Swiatek and Hurkacz combined amid rain interruptions to beat Lorenzo Musetti and Camilla Rosatello 6-1, 6-2.

“Today’s match was pretty stressful because we [don’t] play mixed doubles usually,” said Swiatek. “But I’m so happy that I was able to play a solid game and Hubi was pushing our opponents and really making it easy for me.” 

Musetti produced an almost flawless display of serving against Daniel Michalski to put Italy in front in the first singles match of the day.