Madrid, Jan 4 (EFE).- The United States, Poland and Greece, as winners of each of the competition venues, and Italy, as the best loser, will play the United Cup Final Four on Friday, a mixed competition played in three cities in Australia and which opens this year on the ATP and WTA circuits.
The semifinals will pit North Americans against Poles and Greeks against Italians, both in the city of Sydney.
The United States beat Great Britain by an uncontested 4-1, but the other two ties were resolved in the fifth point, the mixed doubles. Poland defeated Greece 3-2 and Greece defeated Croatia by the same result.
The excitement lasted until late at night in Perth, where the couple formed by Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari defeated the one made up of the Croatians Petra Martic and Borna Gojo 7-6 (6) and 6-4.
Gojo had previously established a 2-2 tie by beating Stefanos Sakellaridis 6-4, 6-2, in a game with no options for the Hellenic player.
The tie began with a 6-2, 6-0 victory for Donna Vekic over the Greek Despina Papamichail.
However, the Hellenic team overturned their deficit with points from Tsitsipas, who won a difficult match against Croatian Borna Coric, 6-0, 6-7 (4) and 7-5, and from Maria Sakkari, who beat Petra Martic by 6-3 and 6-3.
By then, the teams from the United States and Poland were already classified for the Final Four.
The United States-Great Britain crossover, in Sydney, began tied, after the victories of the American Madison Keys over Katie Swan 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 and the British Cameron Norrie over Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7 and 6-4.
But the next two points went to the United States team: Jessica Pegula defeated Harriet Dart 6-2, 6-0 and Frances Tiafoe defeated Daniel Evans 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, after a laborious comeback. .
In the mixed doubles, Pegula and Fritz also beat Dart and Evans 6-4, 6-4.
In Brisbane, Poland joined the United States as a qualified team thanks to the mixed doubles victory of the pair formed by Iga Swiatek, leader of the women’s circuit, and Hubert Hurkacz over the Italians Camilla Rosatello and Lorenzo Musetti 6-1 and 6 -2.
Swiatek has won every singles and doubles match he has played in this United Cup.
Poland and Italy had concluded the individual matches of the final tie at the Brisbane venue with a 2-2 draw, so the mixed doubles was decisive to define the team that would go to the Final Four in Sydney.
The superiority of the Polish couple was clear: they did not concede a single ‘break’ point and, on the contrary, they broke their rivals’ serve five times, three in the first set and two in the second.
It was a brilliant ending to a tie in which the women’s singles went to Poland and the men’s to Italy.
Iga Swiatek beat Martina Trevisan 6-2 and 6-4 and Magda Linette beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-1 and 6-2, and Lorenzo Musetti beat Daniel Michalski 6-1 and 6-1 and Matteo Berrettini beat Hubert Hurkacz by 6-4, 3-6 and 6-3.
As the best loser, the Italian team goes to the final phase.
(c) EFE Agency
United States-Poland and Greece-Italy, United Cup semifinals