Iga Swiatek catapults Poland in a thrilling series against Norway | ATP Tour

United Cup

Swiatek catapults Poland into a thrilling series against Norway

Poland or Czechia will win Group B

December 30, 2024

Iga Swiatek is life insurance for her country. And he showed it once again in a great Poland tie against Norway this Monday night in the United Cup.

After Swiatek and Casper Ruud gave each country a victory in the singles matches, Swiatek herself and Jan Zielinski beat Ulrikke Eikeri and Ruud in the decisive doubles 6-3, 0-6, 10-8.

“We’re still in last year, so I’m happy to end it like this,” Swiatek said. “I am very happy to have been able to play with Jan and show our game. It was quite tough, but I am happy that in the end we raised the level and ended up giving Poland the victory.”

Meanwhile, chants of encouragement continued in the stands. “Rouuuuud!” he tried to counteract the loud shouts of encouragement of “Poland! Poland!” of the fans of this country who gave color to the stands. The climax came in the super tie-break, when at 8-7 he had two serves in his favor, but could not take advantage of the advantage.

“Although we lost the second set 0-6, we knew it was very close. It was a matter of a few points, decisive points. We were 0/30 a couple of times. “We knew it could change at any moment,” Zielinski analyzed. “They had their moment at 8-7 and served to Casper, so we weren’t in an ideal position. But we stood our ground, served well and played our best tennis when it mattered most, so I’m happy with the result.”

Before that, Casper Ruud had tied the tie at the Ken Rosewall Arena. The No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings managed to beat Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 23 minutes to keep his country alive.

“I think it was an almost error-free match… I didn’t make many unforced ones, except one or two in the last game,” Ruud noted. “But I’m happy with the performance. It was solid, with a good game plan and I was able to execute it well.”

“Of course you always go out on the court with a game plan, but you also have to execute it,” the Norwegian continued his assessment. “You don’t have to take for granted that everything you want to do will work out. So I’m happy I was able to play well tonight. And I knew that I had Hubi in front of me, who is a great player.”

It wasn’t as impressive as the 6-0, 6-1 Iga Swiatek inflicted on Malene Helgø at the start of the tie, but Ruud’s effort was also impressive.

Ruud managed to break the serve of Hurkacz, one of the most reliable servers on the ATP Tour, on two occasions to take the tie to the decisive doubles match.

It was the first game of this season for the Pole, who has been working under the Chilean Nicolás Massú since the beginning of this season.

^{Foto: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}

At the start of the series, World No. 2 Swiatek found no problems beating World No. 404 Helgø.

“I am very happy with my performance,” said the Pole who put her country ahead (1-0). “It is not easy to play for your country, sometimes the pressure is greater. I am very excited, like every year. I think I can get a lot of energy from this, from the people, from the fans… As you can see, like every year, we fill half the stadium with Poles.”

Swiatek, who led the Hologic WTA Tour last 2024 season with 59 victories and 5 titles, intends to maintain the level at the beginning of this course. With his new coach Wim Fissette on the bench, Swiatek dominated his rival from start to finish to score his first win of the year.