Whoever wins goes to the semi-finals (live from 3.30 on TV)

Italy is leading Poland 2-1 in the challenge to deserve a place in the semi-finals of the “United Cup”, The new team event starting the 2023 AH season which SuperTennis broadcasts live. to me Queensland Tennis Centre, Brisbane The blue team, seeded fifth and winner of Group E (beating Brazil and Norway), will have to compete with Poland’s Swatek and Horkasz, the second-place finisher and Group B winners.

in the third singular Matthew Berettini No. 16 ATP, slumped for a third consecutive win in Brisbane (second in the top ten, exceed 64 36 63In an hour and 56 minutes of the gameHubert Hurkacz No. 10 of the ranking.

The 26-year-old from Rome has led 2-1 in previous encounters: The Blue won the second round of the 2018 Australian Open qualifier (hard) and the 2021 Wimbledon semi-finals (grass) while the 25-year-old from Wroclaw won At Round 1 of Miami 2019 (Hard). A good start from Mathieu who started to lead 2-0, but a quick reaction from Hubert who scored a second run in the fourth then took a 3-2 lead after canceling a break point. Pole continued to push but in the ninth game he paid dearly for the slap in the podium (not the first in the match…) with which he missed the opportunity to go up 5-4, and became very nervous. Blue took advantage of his opponent’s decisive moment, grabbed his serve and soon after got a win The first group for 6-4.

In the partial second Hurkacz did not give up, found peace of mind and in the sixth game, which started with a blitz and ended with a backhand on the line that fell into the corner (on the second break point), he snatched the serve from Bretigny (4-2) and then confirmed the superiority (5-2). Relying on Hubert’s serve, he equalized the number of sets (6-3).

In the sixth game Crucial part With a long backhand, Mathieu came back to get a break point, and then, at the end of an exhausting exchange, he took the serve away from Hubert, who hit a long forehand (4-2). And Brittini confirmed the second half (5-2) and in the ninth, with a first outside shot, he closed the conversation (6-3) to give Italy the lead again.

“I am happy for this victory and for my team – said Matthew -. The level of play was very high: Hopi is a great player. I’m really satisfied even if I’m a little tired. The serve and forehand worked well: I felt my putter hit hard. And I think when I was young I was only served with a kick…. The key to success today was my mental strength and my ability to keep my head in the match. This challenge against Poland is a difficult challenge and we have to fight hard with all the weapons we have. There are a lot of fans in the stands supporting us and we need that support.”