Alexander Zverev and Laura Siegemund bested Hubert Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek to win the 2024 United Cup for Germany.
Fans in Sydney could not have wished for more, as some of the best players in the world fought for the second United Cup trophy in the deciding mixed doubles match.
Iga Swiatek started the tie really well for Poland, beating Angelique Kerber in two sets and giving her country a 1-0 lead in the final tie of the 2024 United Cup.
But after that, Alexander Zverev played an incredible match against Hubert Hurkacz, during which he saved two championship points to send the tie into the mixed doubles match.
After the match, the German himself was not sure whether he was going to play the mixed doubles. However, in both their quarterfinal and semifinal clash, it was Zverev, who teamed up with Laura Siegemund to send their country into the next stage.
Therefore, it would have been different to change the winning combination for the final match, so despite the palpable exhaustion, Zverev dressed up again and fought in the mixed doubles match with Siegemund against Hurkacz and Swiatek.
The match was really competitive, but it was more nervous and exhausted play from both teams, rather than a spectacle, even though there was no lack of drama thanks to how close the match was.
In the first set, the Germans got the first break, and despite facing a break point in the following game, they kept their one-break advantage, which was enough to win the first set 6-4.
In the second set of the match, the Poles were the better team, but they still struggled. They broke already in the second game to lead 2-0, but lost the lead afterwards and soon the score was level again at 3-3.
But when serving at 4-3, Siegemund lost her serve, and it the best server out of the four players on the court, Hurkacz, got to serve the set out. Yet, he wasn't able to do that.
At deciding point, Poles had a set point, but Hurkacz attempted to go for a big second serve, which he missed and committed a double fault, letting the Germans back into play.
The Polish duo had two more set points in the following game, on Zverev's serve, but they again didn't use those. But after Swiatek held her serve, they attacked again on Siegemund's serve, and this time broke to win the second set 7-5.
And what better conclusion could the final tie have than the super tie-break in the mixed doubles. The first team to jump into the lead were Zverev and Siegemund, who got the first mini-break and led 3-0 early in the tie-break.
Swiatek then lost one of her serves, while Siegemund held both, and a 6-1 lead for Germany seemed to be too big to lose. Although Hurkacz held his serve, Zverev fired two aces, and at 8-3, there wasn't much hope left for Poland.
And indeed there wasn't any as Zverev and Siegemund won the match 6-4, 5-7, 10-4 to secure the tie and the first United Cup trophy for Germany.
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