Mannarino, Garcia lead fourth-seeded French team
Poland has lived up to its billing as top seed at the 2024 United Cup, roaring into the semi-finals with the loss of just one match in three ties. The nation’s most dominant victory came in the quarter-finals, a 3-0 shutout of China that was clinched after one-sided singles wins for Hubert Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek.
That dynamic duo is also 2-0 in doubles play, though they did not compete in the dead doubles rubber against China on Wednesday.
France, their semi-final opponents, did not have the luxury of resting players for what was a decisive doubles match against Norway in the quarter-finals. Caroline Garcia pulled double duty on Thursday, winning a third-set tie-break against Malene Helgo in singles before teaming with captain Edouard Roger-Vasselin for a clinching doubles victory.
Our first semifinal is LOCKED IN 🔒
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After the big win against Norway, both Garcia and fellow French singles player Adrian Mannarino billed themselves as underdogs against their Polish opponents.
“Playing the best player in the world, it’s always a good test,” Garcia said of her matchup with Swiatek, the WTA’s World No. 1. “It pushes you to your limits. It’s why you train. You want to be able to compete at the highest intensity of the game and try to find solutions against the top player.”
While Garcia trails Swiatek 1-3 in their head-to-head, Mannarino and Hurkacz are knotted at 2-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry.
“He’s in a good place. It’s going to be a tough one,” Mannarino said of his opponent, who sits at No. 9 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. “I have my chance. It’s not going to be easy, but… it’s probably 55-45 for him, so we’ll see. It’s going to be interesting.”
France is into the knockout rounds for the first time at the United Cup, while Poland returns to the semis for the second straight year. In 2023, the Polish team was swept at that stage by the United States, the eventual champions, in Sydney.
“Hopefully this year is going to be a little bit better,” said Swiatek, who was thankful for the two days off as she and her teammates travelled from Perth to Sydney. “We’ll do our best to use that one day of practice to get used to the court.”
