SYDNEY (AP) — Poland reached the United Cup final after Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski beat Coco Gauff and Christian Harrison 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) in a mixed doubles decider.
Poland will face Switzerland in Sunday’s final.
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CAPTION CORRECTS DATE Katarzyna Kawa, left, and Jan Zielinski of Poland celebrate defeating Christian Harrison and Coco Gauff of the U.S. in their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Coco Gauff of the U.S. right, and Iga Swiatek of Poland shake hands after Gauff won their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Christian Harrison, left, and Coco Gauff of the U.S. discuss tactics against Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski of Poland during their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Christian Harrison, left, and Coco Gauff of the U.S. compete against Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski of Poland during their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Katarzyna Kawa, center left, and Jan Zielinski, center right, of Poland celebrate with teammates after defeating Christian Harrison and Coco Gauff of the U.S. in their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Katarzyna Kawa, left, and Jan Zielinski of Poland celebrate defeating Christian Harrison and Coco Gauff of the U.S. in their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts after missing a shot to Coco Gauff of the U.S. in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates her win over Iga Swiatek of Poland in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Iga Swiatek of Poland hits a backhand to Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Iga Swiatek of Poland hits a forehand to Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Coco Gauff of the U.S. waits to return serve from Iga Swiatek of Poland during their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Coco Gauff of the U.S. hits a forehand to Iga Swiatek of Poland during their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic, left, and Jakub Paul of Switzerland celebrate winning a point against Alise Mertens and Zizou Bergs of Belgium during their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Zizou Bergs of Belgium hits a backhand to Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland during their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Zizou Bergs of Belgium, right, Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland shake hands after Bergs won their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic, second right, and Jakub Paul, right, of Switzerland shake hands with Alise Mertens, left, and Zizou Bergs of Belgium after Switzerland won their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Alise Mertens of Belgium looks up after a rally against Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, left and Alise Mertens of Belgium meet at the net after Bencic won their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland celebrates her win over Alise Mertens of Belgium in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, second left, celebrates with teammates after her win over Alise Mertens of Belgium in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Kawa and Zielinski were decisive once again, having won the mixed-doubles decider in the quarterfinals against Australia. Six-time Grand Slam singles champion Iga Świątek rushed over to join the celebrations.
Earlier, Gauff beat the No. 2-ranked Świątek 6-4, 6-2 to force a mixed-doubles decider.
Fourth-ranked Gauff, the French Open champion, evened the matchup at 1-1 at the team event after Hubert Hurkacz beat Taylor Fritz 7-6 (1), 7-6 (2) in the singles opener at Ken Rosewall Arena. It was Gauff's fourth straight victory over Świątek, the Wimbledon champion.
The Swiss advanced when Belinda Bencic combined with Jakub Paul in the deciding mixed doubles to defeat Belgium’s Elise Mertens and Zizou Bergs 6-3, 0-6, 10-5.
Bencic has won all four of her singles matches and four in mixed doubles this week in the team event. Paul, who won just six tour-level doubles matches last year, hit several down-the-line winners at crucial moments to lead Switzerland into the final.
“He’s so brave it’s unbelievable,” Bencic said of Paul. “I tell him to go (for it) and he actually goes. It’s crazy."
Earlier, Bencic extended her undefeated season-opening singles streak when she beat Mertens 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (0) to put Switzerland ahead 1-0. But Stan Wawrinka, who will retire at the end of this season, was beaten 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 by Bergs to send the match to a mixed doubles decider at Ken Rosewall Arena.
The turning point in the Wawrinka-Bergs match came in the eighth game of the third set when Bergs broke Wawrinka’s serve to go up 5-3, then held serve to win the match.
Tournament organizers started play 30 minutes earlier than scheduled with searing temperatures of up to 43 Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) in the forecast for Sydney.
Bencic had won all six sets in her first three matches at the United Cup. She was two games away from another two-set win before Mertens pushed the match the distance.
Then Mertens came from 3-1 down in the third set, saved a pair of break points that would have given Bencic a 4-1 lead, and was two points away from the set win with Bencic serving at 30-30, down 6-5.
But Bencic won the last nine points of the match following a decision to change her racket to a freshly-strung one.
“It feels like 170 kilos fell off my shoulders — I was so stressed; I really wanted to do well, and today I felt so much pressure to not let my team down,” Bencic said.
On the racket change, she said: “My brain turned off and let my instincts take over. I think it was just a feeling."
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
CAPTION CORRECTS DATE Katarzyna Kawa, left, and Jan Zielinski of Poland celebrate defeating Christian Harrison and Coco Gauff of the U.S. in their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Coco Gauff of the U.S. right, and Iga Swiatek of Poland shake hands after Gauff won their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Christian Harrison, left, and Coco Gauff of the U.S. discuss tactics against Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski of Poland during their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Christian Harrison, left, and Coco Gauff of the U.S. compete against Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski of Poland during their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Katarzyna Kawa, center left, and Jan Zielinski, center right, of Poland celebrate with teammates after defeating Christian Harrison and Coco Gauff of the U.S. in their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Katarzyna Kawa, left, and Jan Zielinski of Poland celebrate defeating Christian Harrison and Coco Gauff of the U.S. in their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts after missing a shot to Coco Gauff of the U.S. in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates her win over Iga Swiatek of Poland in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Iga Swiatek of Poland hits a backhand to Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Iga Swiatek of Poland hits a forehand to Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Coco Gauff of the U.S. waits to return serve from Iga Swiatek of Poland during their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Coco Gauff of the U.S. hits a forehand to Iga Swiatek of Poland during their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic, left, and Jakub Paul of Switzerland celebrate winning a point against Alise Mertens and Zizou Bergs of Belgium during their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Zizou Bergs of Belgium hits a backhand to Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland during their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Zizou Bergs of Belgium, right, Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland shake hands after Bergs won their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic, second right, and Jakub Paul, right, of Switzerland shake hands with Alise Mertens, left, and Zizou Bergs of Belgium after Switzerland won their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Alise Mertens of Belgium looks up after a rally against Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, left and Alise Mertens of Belgium meet at the net after Bencic won their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland celebrates her win over Alise Mertens of Belgium in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, second left, celebrates with teammates after her win over Alise Mertens of Belgium in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
