Brisbane [Australia], Jan 3: Hubert Hurkacz clinched a critical victory for Poland against Switzerland’s star player Stan Wawrinka and Magda Linette’s heroics delivered the crucial third point to book Poland a spot in the Brisbane City Finals at the United Cup on Tuesday.
With Hurkacz’s victory providing Poland with a 2-1 lead, Linette held off Jil Teichmann to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 to clinch the tie. Hurkacz battled through a hard-fought clash against the former World No. 3 Wawrinka 7-6(5), 6-4.
Poland will face Italy in the City Finals on Wednesday. The winner of the match will go on to compete in the United Cup Final Four in Sydney. The team with the best record among Perth, Sydney, and Brisbane runner-ups will also advance to the Final Four.
“Never had a chance before to play against Stan, so I was really looking forward for that match. He’s such a legend of the sport. I was watching him win the Grand Slams and now I can share the court with him, so that was a huge pleasure for me,” Atptour.com quoted Hurkacz as saying.
“Definitely a very big match. Obviously very happy to get a point for Team Poland, so I was really excited about it. It was a big point for us and we’ll keep fighting,” he further added.
The stakes were high for Hurkacz and Wawrinka, who both knew the edge in Group B was on the line. Switzerland’s captain fought hard, and the margins were narrow, but World No.10 Hurkacz delivered in crunch time to win after one hour and 39 minutes.
The three-time Grand Slam champion made a critical error at 3/3 in the first-set tie-break, which proved his undoing. Wawrinka double-faulted, and Hurkacz took full advantage to close out the set.
“I found my rhythm on serve towards the end of the match and definitely from the baseline I was hitting some better shots. It was a really, really important match and I’m happy that I was building my game through the whole match and it was a really tough battle,” Hurkacz said.
On the other hand, with a chance to win the match and prevent the tie from being decided by the mixed doubles, No.48 Linette held her nerve to defeat No.35 Teichmann. They had only met once before, at the 2021 Chicago 500, and the Swiss had won in straight sets.
“I played against Jil and she smoked me the last time so I knew I had to bring my best tennis. I was so frustrated in the first set when I had a good lead and I didn’t do a very good job, I wasn’t focused enough. I’m really happy that I was able to reset after the first set and come back strong,” Linette said. (Agencies)
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