Driven on by its passionate fans, Poland finally etched its name on the United Cup with a 2-1 victory over Switzerland in the 2026 final in Sydney.
Runners up in the past two editions, the Polish team of Iga Świątek, Hubert Hurkacz, Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zieliński recovered from losing the first rubber in the final to storm back and win the 2026 decider 2-1.
Poland, captained by Mateusz Terczyński and fortunately based the whole week at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney, had defeated Germany and The Netherlands in the round robin. The Poles then eliminated hosts Australia in the quarter final and defending champion USA in the semi final. Both of those victories came in live deciding mixed doubles rubbers through the efforts of Kawa and Zieliński.
Belinda Bencic in particular was phenomenal for Switzerland all week, going 9-1 over five ties, including a perfect 5-0 in singles. She had been well supported by 40 year old Stan Wawrinka, who also captained the team, and doubles player Jakub Paul. In fact, Bencic and Paul had won every one of their four mixed doubles encounters entering the final.
The final began with a meeting between Świątek and Bencic. World No. 2 and six time major winner Świątek jumped away to an early 3-0 lead and took the opening set. However Bencic, the Olympic singles gold medalist from Tokyo, responded with an immaculate mix of attacking and defensive play from the baseline to clinch the next two sets and prevail 3-6, 6-0, 6-3. It was only her second win in seven meetings with Świątek, who had also lost to Coco Gauff a night earlier.
Hurkacz confronted three time Grand Slam singles champion Wawrinka, starting his final year on tour, in the second rubber and continued where he left off in his win against Taylor Fritz in the semi final. A controlled Hurkacz won the first set comfortably before Wawrinka responded with his best tennis laced with some superlative baseline winners to take the match to a third set. It was Hurkacz though who steadied in the deciding set and a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win sent the final to the live mixed doubles.
Zielinski, an accomplished doubles player with a former top 10 ranking, and the unheralded Kawa, looked the better team throughout the decisive third rubber. It was Zieliński who ultimately clinched the title with a crunching forehead return off Paul that Bencic was unable to handle at the net and the match was sealed 6-4, 6-3. Zieliński and Kawa stunningly recorded a 5-0 record in the mixed for the week.
Switzerland had defeated France and Italy in Perth in the round robin before signing off in Western Australia with a 2-1 win over Argentina in the quarter final. After making the long trip to Sydney and two days off, the Swiss then edged out the Belgium team of Zizou Bergs and Elise Mertens 2-1 in the semis. The final four tie was decided in the mixed doubles.
The title was particularly sweet for Świątek and Hurkacz who had played in the final in 2024 (losing to Germany) and 2025 (losing to the US). The defeat to Germany in the final two years ago was particularly painful as Poland held a title winning point in the second singles rubber. However, Hurkacz missed a forehand pass against Alexander Zverev by the barest of margins and Germany recovered to eventually win that match and the final 2-1.
Title photo of Team Poland – Iga Świątek, Hubert Hurkacz, Jan Zieliński, Katarzyna Kawa, Daniel Michalski, Katarzyna Pite with the United Cup – by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images/Tennis Australia