United Cup semifinals preview: Swiatek braces for Rybakina; Gauff in action
Heading into the United Cup, Kazakhstan was not viewed as one of the favorites. Alexander Shevchenko was among the doubters.
“If you would ask me that we would be in the semis,” he told reporters a few days ago, “I would probably doubt it.”
His captain, Aleksandr Nedovyesov, was incredulous.
“Why would you doubt it?” he asked.
United Cup: Scores | Draws | Order of Play
“I doubt just because of me,” Shevchenko said, drawing laughter from the assembled media. “Elena [Rybakina] is always bringing the point no matter what, and I have more confidence in her than in myself, to be honest.”
And yet, No.9-seeded and undefeated Kazakhstan finds itself in Saturday’s Sydney semifinals opposite Poland. Indeed, Rybakina is 3-0 in singles and 1-0 in doubles -- but Shevchenko, who is ranked No.78, with a career-high of No.45, has won two of three singles matches. He upset Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and handled Daniel Masur of Germany -- and paired with Rybakina for the pivotal point against Spain.
Poland, a finalist here a year ago and led by Iga Swiatek
The second semifinal pits the undefeated and top-seeded United States against No.8 Czech Republic.
Meanwhile, we’re down to the final four in Brisbane and, after a weather intervention in Auckland, final six at the ASB Classic.
United Cup
Group C winner Kazakhstan (3-0) vs. Group B winner Poland (3-0)
Start time: (10:30 a.m. local, 6:30 p.m. ET)
[9] Alexander Shevchenko (KAZ) vs [2] Hubert Hurkacz (POL)
[9] Elena Rybakina
[9] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) / Alexander Shevchenko (KAZ) vs [2] Iga Swiatek (POL) / Hubert Hurkacz (POL)
This one’s worthy of a Grand Slam final: World No.2 Swiatek versus No.6 Rybakina. They own six major titles between them, five belonging to Swiatek.
While Rybakina leads the head-to-head series 4-2, the players split last year with Rybakina winning the Doha final and Swiatek prevailing in the Stuttgart semifinals. And although you’d think hard courts would favor Rybakina’s big-serving game, they’re 2-2 on that surface.
Rise and shine for this one 🌞
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 3, 2025
Our first semifinal is going to be a good one 🔥#UnitedCup pic.twitter.com/Vkpce4RGSl
Like Rybakina, Swiatek is 3-0 -- but she overcame the loss of a first-set tiebreak to chase down Katie Boulter
Swiatek, who took a medical timeout against Boulter, said she should be ready to go.
“I think so,” Swiatek said. “Honestly nothing bad happened. It hurt at the time, but I’ll have plenty of time to recover now.”
Will those difficult match wins help or hurt her against Rybakina?
“Honestly I’m happy,” Swiatek said, “because it’s a nice challenge, especially before a Grand Slam. Elena likes playing in Australia, so for sure it’s going to be a challenge. I think these two matches that I played will help me, because I know what I need to do and kind of I got through some tough moments.”
Shevchenko will need to continue to defy gravity. He’s lost all three previous matches against Hurkacz -- in a span of just over a year.
“We are going to Sydney,” Shevchenko said after the quarterfinal in Perth. “Let’s not stop on that, and maybe we can make a final. Maybe we’re going to win the whole thing.”
Group A winner United States (3-0) vs. Group B runner-up Czech Republic (2-1)
Start time: (5:30 p.m. local, 1:30 a.m. ET)
[1] Coco Gauff
[1] Taylor Fritz (USA) vs [8] Tomas Machac (CZE)
[1] Coco Gauff (USA) / Taylor Fritz (USA) vs [8] Karolina Muchova (CZE) / T. Machac (CZE)
Gauff’s first United Cup campaign couldn’t be going better. She’s 3-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles with Fritz.
“I’m having so much fun,” Gauff said. “We have a great team, great vibes all around, and excited that we were able to move on to the next round of the tournament and hopefully all the way to the end.”
The Czech Republic feels the same way after producing two memorable singles victories over Italy. Muchova opened with a 6-2, 6-2 win over World No.4 Jasmine Paolini
“Today was unbelievable day for the Czech flag,” Machac said afterward. “I saw playing Karolina before me. She was playing unbelievable, so I said, `Why not me?’ I was just trying to play good as her, and I think I was playing great.
“So I was listening Karolina advice: We are not going for mixed doubles today. Just singles today.”
In singles, the Americans hold a collective 4-0 head-to-head advantage. Gauff is 3-0 versus Muchova, in the 2023 Cincinnati final, 2023 US Open final and 2024 Beijing final -- all in straight sets. Fritz beat Machac in their only previous meeting, a first-round five-setter at 2020 Roland Garros.
There’s another factor that favors the United States -- the schedule. Playing in Perth, the Americans won their quarterfinal match against China on Wednesday, then flew across the country to Sydney. The Czechs played Friday night and face a quick turnaround.
“We don’t have a day off, and we just finished,” Muchova said. “It’s pretty late, so I will see how I will wake up, I guess.
“But I take it very positively. It’s so good, especially before Melbourne is going to come, to have these tough matches.”
Brisbane International
Mirra Andreeva
Next stop: 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 📍@SabalenkaA defeats Bouzkova in straight sets to reach the final 4 in Brisbane!#BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/4zmtzBFZux
— wta (@WTA) January 3, 2025
Sabalenka won the rematch last year in Madrid by a similar score, but Andreeva stunned the No.2-ranked Sabalenka with a three-set win in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. And now they meet again.
Sabalenka took care of Marie Bouzkova
The other semifinal features qualifier Polina Kudermetova
[Q] Polina Kudermetova
[1] Aryna Sabalenka
Auckland’s ASB Classic
No.7 seed Naomi Osaka
That means Saturday’s lineup is packing added value, with No.1 seed Madison Keys
[1] Madison Keys
[8] Katie Volynets
[1] Keys (USA) or [5] Tauson (DEN) vs. Robin Montgomery
[8] Volynets (USA) or Parks (USA) vs. [7] Naomi Osaka
