Poland overcomes Świątek defeat to Bencic and rallies to beat Switzerland in United Cup final

SYDNEY (AP) — Poland bounced back from two consecutive runner-up finishes to win the United Cup after Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa beat Jakub Paul and Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-3 in the deciding mixed doubles match to complete a 2-1 comeback victory over Switzerland on Sunday.

Earlier, Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz beat Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to even the final after Belinda Bencic rallied from a set down to stun No. 2-ranked Iga Świątek 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, giving Switzerland a surprise lead.

Hurkacz was playing in a tournament for the first time in seven months after knee surgery sidelined the former No. 6-ranked player. He won four of his five singles matches, including victories over Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz.

Those triumphs will help ease the pain of defeats in the final over the past two years with a loss to Zverev in 2024 after the Polish player lost two championship points and another last year to Fritz in a tiebreaker.

“Finally, we made it — third time lucky,” said Świątek at the trophy presentation. “I really felt it was a team effort this year. Hubi, what a comeback after so many months. You played amazing. You inspired us all with determination. I feel you improved every part of our game. Our doubles team, wow! You just beat everyone. It was amazing.”

Bencic, who had won all four of her singles and four mixed doubles matches this week, came into her match against Świątek having lost her last five matches against the former No. 1-ranked player.

It looked as if that trend was going to continue as Świątek started strongly and claimed the opening set 6-3 at Ken Rosewall Arena.

But the No.11-ranked Bencic shifted the momentum by winning nine consecutive points to open the second, evening the match in a swift 33-minute set.

The decisive third set hinged on a crucial break at 2-1, where Bencic capitalized on a powerful forehand to seize control. While Swiatek fought to save two match points with consecutive aces, her effort was hampered by an uncharacteristic 36 unforced errors, compared to just 10 from Bencic.

Bencic sealed the win with a sublime backhand winner into the open court on her third match point.

“To be honest, I felt I was in the match from the very first point,” Bencic said. “I thought I was going great and I was 0-3 down. I was ‘OK, what do I have to do.’ I think I just tried to keep the level and just wait for some chances.”

“I think the difference today was I played very freely, I was really enjoying myself out on the court and I was just really going for it.”

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, left, and Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland meet at the net after Hurkacz won their final match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Teammembers from Poland celebrate with their trophy after defeating Switzerland in the final at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Belinda Bencic, right, and Jakub Paul of Switzerland compete against Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski of Poland in the doubles final match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Katarzyna Kawa, left, and Jan Zielinski of Poland celebrate after defeating Belinda Bencic and Jakub Paul of Switzerland in the doubles final match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Teammembers from Poland celebrate with their trophy after defeating Switzerland in the final at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Iga Swiatek of Poland hits a forehand to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland during their final match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, right, and Iga Swiatek of Poland meet at the net after Bencic won their final match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Iga Swiatek of Poland Belinda reacts after missing a shot to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland during their final match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Belinda Bencic of Switzerland celebrates defeting Iga Swiatek of Poland in their final match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, left, celebrates with teammate Stan Wawrinka after defeting Iga Swiatek of Poland in their final match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks recovered most of their earlier losses as volatility returned to Wall Street after two days of solid gains.

The S&P 500 fell 0.1% after slumping as much as 1.5% in early trading Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 87 points, or 0.2% as of 11:08 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%. Stocks in Europe pared their losses.

Oil prices remained elevated although down from earlier highs. The price for a barrel of U.S. crude rose close to $114 a barrel at one point.

The unsettled trading follows a national address late Wednesday from President Donald Trump, where he vowed the U.S. will continue to attack Iran and failed to offer a clear timetable for ending the conflict in the Middle East. Those comments appeared to dim the hopes for a near-term conclusion to the war that had pushed stocks higher through most the week.

Major indexes are still on track to close out the week with gains. Thursday is the last day of trading on Wall Street this week with with the stock market closed on Good Friday.

Crude oil prices have been the main force behind the sharp swings for stocks globally. Shipping traffic has been severely curtailed in the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes through during peacetime.

The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 4.8% to $105.99. per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 8.4% to $108.82 per barrel, pulling back after breaching $110. Prices had been sliding back toward $100 per barrel prior to Trump’s address on Wednesday. The U.S. only relies on the Persian Gulf for a fraction of the oil it imports, but oil is a commodity and prices are set in a global market. A disruption anywhere affects prices everywhere.

Markets have been broadly sliding since the war began, with indexes often rising and falling sharply along with statements from Trump about the direction of the war. Just on Monday, the S&P 500 briefly neared a 10% drop from its record, a steep-enough fall that professional investors have a name for it: a “correction. The index gained ground Tuesday and Wednesday on hope that the war could end soon.

Airlines and other travel-related companies were among the biggest losers on Thursday. United Airlines fell 3.3% and Carnival shed 3.6%. Energy companies gained ground, with Chevron rising 1.6%.

Treasury yields remained relatively steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to to 4.30% from 4.32%.

Wall Street is worried that higher energy prices are adding to already stubbornly high inflation. Rising fuel prices take a bigger chunk out of consumers' wallets in several ways. Directly, gasoline prices in the U.S. have surged more than 33 percent from a month ago to average $4.08 per gallon, according to the auto club AAA.

Indirectly, rising fuel prices tend to make a wide range of services and goods more expensive. Flights become more expensive as airlines raise ticket prices to offset rising fuel costs. Consumer goods become more expensive as shipping and transportation costs rise.

Inflation has been stubbornly above the Federal Reserve's 2% target. The war and its corresponding surge in energy prices effectively pushes inflation higher and that has dashed hopes for the Fed to cut interest rates. Wall Street had hoped for the central bank to cut rates in order to help offset a weakening job market. Lower interest rates could help stimulate the economy by lowering borrowing costs, but they also risk worsening inflation.

Traders came into 2026 forecasting several cuts to the Fed's benchmark interest rate, which influences rates for mortgages and other loans. They are now expecting the benchmark rate to remain steady this year.

Associated Press journalists Chan Ho-Him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Fishing boats dot the sea as cargo ships, in the background, sail through the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz off the United Arab Emirates, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo)

Perople walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP Pool)

Persons walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)