Poland has reached its third United Cup final round after defeating the United States in the semifinals, a team that entered the mixed-gender tournament as the defending champions. Iga Świątek, who is headlining the team along with Hubert Hurkacz and others, has recently expressed her thoughts on losing to Coco Gauff for the fourth consecutive time.
Iga Świątek Reflects Praise for Her American Rival After Facing Another Defeat
Świątek has established herself as one of the top players in the United Cup, the tournament currently taking place across Perth and Sydney, with the finals set for tomorrow between Poland and Switzerland, featuring stars Stan Wawrinka and Belinda Bencic, among others.
Team Poland had reached the semifinal spot two times, first in 2024, losing to Germany with a scoreline of 2-1, and then in 2025, losing to Team USA with a final score of 2-0. At the United Cup’s fourth edition, Team Poland repeated their excellence, defeating the USA with a final scoreline of 2-1.
In men’s singles, Hubert Hurkacz claimed victory, defeating Taylor Fritz with a scoreline of 7-6(1) and 7-6(2), and then Gauff surpassed Świątek with a two-set win, 6-4, 6-2. The game was levelled; however, in the mixed doubles, Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa surpassed Gauff and Christian Harrison, taking the win for their homeland with a set score of 7-6(5), 7-6(3).
During her post-match press conference, Świątek, who is the current World No. 2, reflected on facing her fourth straight loss to World No. 4. While expressing her views, she praised Gauff’s transformation, adding, “Yeah, for sure I feel like Coco has improved stuff. It’s quite visible. The matches we played couple years back where most of them were kind of one-sided. I feel like that’s it. She’s also growing in age, more experienced as well. So yeah, she’s a top player for many years now, even though she started with she was, like, 16, much earlier than most of us do. Yeah, congrats to her basically.”
Through her Instagram post, Świątek also expressed her heartfelt thoughts on the team’s win, writing in the caption, “Challenging day for me today but some important lessons to be learned. I’m super grateful for my team and their passion. What a fight tonight! 🔥 See you in the final tomorrow with another chance.😇”
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The Polish sensation has clashed against Gauff sixteen times during her career, with the last three losses coming at the 2025 Mutua Madrid Open, the 2025 United Cup, where Gauff won the women’s singles final with a set score of 6-4, 6-4, and then at the 2024 WTA Finals.
For the United Cup final, Świątek will be clashing against Belinda Bencic, against whom she has played six times in her career and leads their head-to-head with 5-1. Bencic and Świątek last competed in the round of 16 at the 2025 Wuhan Open.
