United Cup tennis 2024: Iga Swiatek fires Poland into semi-finals with straight sets win over Zheng Qinwen

Iga Swiatek was back to her blistering best as her straight sets win over Zheng Qinwen propelled Poland into the semi-finals of the United Cup in Perth.

The world No. 1 followed up team-mate Hubert Hurkacz’s earlier win over Zhang Zhizhen with a dominant 6-2 6-3 victory over Zheng, who herself is ranked 14th.

The Chinese player drew first blood with an early break as she sought her first victory over Swiatek, but the 22-year-old overcame her initial blip to steam through the next six games, winning all three of her break points in the opening set.

Swiatek continued her momentum in the second, racing into a 3-0 lead before Zheng, the 2023 WTA Most Improved Player, levelled with a strong hold, but the final nail in the coffin was hammered home by the relentless Pole, whose heavy hitting paid dividends at 5-3 to reclaim the break of serve.

She took her second match point to seal the deal, and help Poland into their second consecutive semi-final in this competition after they lost to the United States last year.

“I’m really happy with my game, and also how the atmosphere in the team is,” Swiatek said. “I really feel like we can just be better when we’re together, so for sure playing [with Hurkacz] is an exciting thing to do, and I’m real happy with every match that I play here.”

Before Swiatek’s victory, Hurkacz had defeated Zhang 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes.

It was trademark Hurkacz, with the world No. 9 demonstrating exactly why he has flown up the rankings in recent months, crashing down serves and following them up with crunching forehands to put the contest beyond his opponent.

Poland will face either France or Norway in the last four.