TENNIS – Italy celebrate a place in the United Cup semi-finals despite defeat against Poland. They will face Greece on 6th January.
Italy lost 3-2 in a tie decided by the mixed doubles match. However, the Italians earned a place in the semi-finals with the best overall record among the day’s three losing teams. They beat Croatia and Great Britain to join winners Poland, the United States and Greece in Sydney for the United Cup Final Four that begins on Friday.
Winning start with Berrettini and Mussetti
A 6-4, 3-6 6-3 win for Matteo Berrettini against Hubert Hurkacz put the Italians ahead early in the tie before Lorenzo Musetti powered past Daniel Michalski 6-1, 6-1.
Iga Swiatek and Magda Linette for Poland won their singles match to take it to a mixed doubles decider. Musetti teamed with Camilla Rosatello for the mixed doubles but they were overwhelmed 6-1, 6-2 by the star Polish team of Hurkacz and WTA World No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
The loss finalised Italy’s record at 10-5 across three ties in Brisbane — matching that of Team Croatia, which fell 3-2 against Greece in the Perth City Final. Great Britain finished at 8-7 after a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the United States.
With Italy and Croatia level on match records, the Italians advanced courtesy of their superior percentage of sets won. They will now travel to Sydney to take on Stefanos Tsitsipas, Maria Sakkari and Team Greece in the semis.
