Germany fought back from the brink of defeat to beat Poland and win the United Cup in Sydney. Alexander Zverev saved two championship points in his second-set tie-break against Hubert Hurkacz before going on to win 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 6-4.
The subsequent doubles decider then saw Zverev and Laura Siegemund triumph against Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek 6-4, 5-7, 10-4. The four-times grand slam champion Swiatek had earlier beaten Aneglique Kerber 6-3, 6-0.
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Germany, who made it into the quarter-finals on percentage of games won after finishing second in Group D, had reached the final via a semi-final against Australia in which Kerber had saved two match points against Ajla Tomljanovic before Zverev and Siegemund did likewise against Matthew Ebden and Storm Hunter.
Zverev said during the trophy presentation: “It’s been absolutely amazing. It’s been a pleasure and it’s been absolutely so much fun for everybody to be part of this team, especially for me.
“I really thank you guys for being part of this. I really couldn’t be happier be sharing this trophy with anybody than you guys.
“Congrats to Team Poland, amazing run. It was a matter of millimetres today for you guys to be the champions.”