Poland Advances to the Semifinals of the United Cup for Mixed Teams

Poland defeated China 2-0 to reach the semifinals of the United Cup for mixed teams on Wednesday after Hubert Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek won their singles matches in Perth. Poland, the top seed among the 18 participating countries in the tournament with a prize pool of $10 million, started the match strongly as Hurkacz, known for his powerful shots, overcame Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-4. Swiatek recovered from a 0-2 deficit in the first set to defeat Qingwen Zheng 6-2, 6-3, marking her third consecutive singles win in the tournament, which the world number one is using to prepare for the Australian Open this month. Poland will now head to Sydney for the semifinals, where they will be joined by either Serbia or Australia. World number one Novak Djokovic, who faced a wrist issue during Serbia's victory over the Czech Republic on Tuesday, is set to face Alex de Minaur in the opening singles match. Caroline Garcia and Adrien Mannarino led France to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 win over Italy. Garcia, ranked 20th in the world, defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 after Mannarino won against Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-4 in the fourth group. Later on Wednesday, Greece will meet Canada in Group B, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Australian Open runner-up, is scheduled to play his first singles match of the season. The Australian Open is set to take place from January 14 to 28.