Three-time Grand Slam champion iga Swiatek overcame Olympic champion Belinda Bencic 6-3 7-6 (7-3) to give Poland a 1-0 lead over Switzeland.
The winner of this match will face either Italy or Brazil in the City Finals.
Swiatek followed a 6-1 6-3 win over Yulia Putintseva with her second career win over Bencic. Last year’s Roland Garros and US Open champion Siwiatek earned her first break of the match in the fourth game of the opening set to take a 3-1 lead, but Bencic broke back three games later to draw level to 3-3. Swiatek broke for the second time in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead and held serve to close out the first set 6-3 after 41 minutes.
Swiatek earned an early break in the third game of the second set to take a 3-1 lead. Bencic broke back in the 10th game as Swiatek was serving for the match at 5-4. Both players traded mini-breaks at the start of the tie-break. Swiatek earned three match points at 6-3 with two mini-breaks and sealed the win on his first opportunity.
“I am happy with my performance today because Belinda is playing really fast, taking the ball really early, so it’s a totally different different rhythm. On this fast surface it’s really hard. I got my energy for the tie-break. It was stressful as hell, the first tie-break of the season, but I am really happy that I made it”, said Swiatek.
Last year’s Sofia Open champion Marc Andrea Huesler beat Daniel Michalski 6-3 6-2 in 1 hour and 13 minutes to level the to 1-1. Huesler converted all three break points and did not face a break point. Huesler is now 2-0 in this edition of the United Cup after his win over Kazakhstan’s Timofey Skatov.
On Tuesday Hubert Hurkacz will face Stan Wawrinka in the number 1 men’s singles match and Magda Linette will take on Jilli Teichmann in the number 2 match women’s match before a potentially deciding mixed doubles match.
