SYDNEY: Poland battled past Switzerland 2-1 in the United Cup final on Sunday to banish the pain of title-round defeats in the previous two editions and secure a long-awaited maiden triumph in the season-opening mixed-team competition.

Hubert Hurkacz continued his resurgence in his first event back after a near seven-month injury layoff by beating veteran Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to level the tie at 1-1 after Iga Swiatek lost 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 to an inspired Belinda Bencic.

The mixed doubles duo of Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski then downed Bencic and Jakub Paul 6-4, 6-3 in the deciding match to trigger jubilant scenes in Sydney, where Poland finally converted their dominance into silverware.

“We’ve finally made it. Third time lucky,” Swiatek said.

“We worked hard … I want to thank the team. This year it was such a team effort, I really felt the support. Even though my singles performances weren’t perfect, you got my spirits up and you all believed until the end.”

Bencic won 12 of the final 15 games against a shell-shocked Swiatek, earning her second victory over the world number two.

“To be honest, I felt I was in the match from the very first point,” said Bencic, who won all five of her singles matches in the tournament.

“I thought I was going great and I was 0-3 down. I was ‘OK, what do I have to do?’ “I think I just tried to keep the level and just wait for some chances.”

Victory capped a superb campaign for Poland, who beat last year’s champions the United States in the semi-finals, and set up Hurkacz to carry momentum into his singles campaign at the Australian Open that begins on Jan 18. Playing in his final season on tour, Wawrinka pushed Hurkacz hard to force a deciding set in the second singles encounter but the 40-year-old was unable to grab the victory that would have clinched the tie.

“He’s definitely an inspiration,” Hurkacz said about the three-times major champion.

“I grew up watching him play, compete and win so much. His game style is really powerful. The shots he pulls off sometimes, you can really admire them even when you are on the other side of the net.”

Hurkacz was equally impressive on the day, sending down 18 aces and saving eight out of the nine break points he faced in the match to set up the decider, where the experience of Kawa and Zielinski helped Poland prevail.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2026