The 2026 United Cup was decided this past weekend in Sydney, Australia and for the third straight year Poland was in the final. After losing to Germany in the final in 2024, and the United States in the final in 2025, it was Poland’s turn to take the title as they defeated Switzerland two matches to one in the best of three final.
One might have thought by hearing that Poland was victorious, it would have beat a spectacular weekend for world number two Iga Swiatek of Warsaw, Poland. However, it was anything but. Swiatek actually lost her match in the semifinal tie by a score of 6-4, 6-2 to Coco Gauff of the United States, and then lost 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the final.
The reasons why Poland was victorious were because of the exceptional play of 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist Hubert Hurkacz of Wroclaw, the world number 53, and the Polish mixed doubles duo of Katarzyna Kawa of Krynica-Zdroj and Jan Zielinski of Warsaw. Hurkacz won both of his singles matches in the final two ties. Hurkacz upset American Taylor Fritz 7-6, 7-6 in the semifinals, and then beat three-time grand slam champion Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the final.
As for Kawa and Zielinski, they beat the American duo of Gauff and Christian Harrison 7-6, 7-6 in the semifinals, and the Swiss duo of Bencic and Jakub Paul 6-4, 6-3 in the final. Zielinski is a two-time mixed doubles grand slam champion. He teamed up with Su-wei Hsieh of Taiwan to win the 2024 Australian Open and 2024 Wimbledon. Kawa’s success was a surprise, given the fact she has never reached the third round of a grand slam doubles tournament.
