Perth, Jan 1 Kazakhstan secured a spot in the United Cup semifinals as it knocked out the defending champions Germany with a 2-0 unassailable lead in the quarterfinal tie on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old Alexander Shevchenko rallied to defeat Daniel Masur 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2 in a physical battle in Perth, moving Kazakhstan to an unassailable 2-0 lead in the quarterfinal tie after Elena Rybakina's commanding 6-3, 6-1 victory over Laura Siegemund in the first match of the tournament’s knockout stages.
Masur had come in to replace World No. 2 Alexander Zverev, who withdrew due to a bicep strain but was unable to forge a memorable upset to keep Germany alive.
"I’m really proud that I found this win for our team, because I was fighting hard. I saw the faces of my team, and they didn’t want to go to a decider. I was also a little bit nervous, because I knew if I won, the tie was over," Shevchenko said.
Kazakhstan will travel to Sydney for the semifinals. It was knocked out of the United Cup on tournament debut in 2023 with a 0-2 record, but now has the chance to reach the title tilt.
Meanwhile, Hubert Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek clinched Poland's place atop Group B on Wednesday, defeating Czechia's Tomas Machac and Karolina Muchova 7-6(3), 6-3 to seal the critical tie 2-1 and a place in the quarterfinal of the United Cup.
Machac had moved Czechia to the brink of the quarterfinals at the start of the tie with a tense 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win against Hurkacz, before Iga Swiatek forced the deciding mixed doubles with a hard-fought 6-3, 6-4 victory over Muchova.
Hurkacz delivered his duo's 11th ace of the match to emerge victorious after one hour and 25 minutes. The Poles broke serve five times from 11 chances against the Czechs.
"Honestly, I was sure they were going to play amazing tennis because they have always great teams in doubles and mixed doubles. They are kind of raised that way. But I knew that we have the game to win it. For sure we were leading from the beginning. In the first set it got tight at the end, but I kind of felt that we were leading anyway so in the tie-break we just used that. In the end it seemed that we had everything under control," Swiatek said.
Czechia can still earn a spot in the quarterfinals by finishing as the best-placed second-placed country in Sydney. Machac, Muchova and the rest of their team will need to follow Australia and Britain's tie closely.
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