Poland have defeated Great Britain 3-0 to book a semifinal date with Kazakhstan on Saturday after a thrilling battle between Iga Swiatek and Katie Boulter; a contest filled with rallies of the highest quality but ultimately ending in a degree of controversy with a late match medical timeout by the victorious Swiatek.
In the opening rubber, Hubert Hurkacz proved too strong for Billy Harris with a 7-6 7-5 victory to give Poland a 1-0 lead in the tie. While Hurkacz blasted 37 winners, Harris played at a level well above the 100 ranking spot difference between the pair to keep the scoreline close, with Hurkacz taking his only break opportunity in the second set on the first attempt to gain a decisive lead.
"Definitely really, really happy to get through my match and just, yes, to get some more confidence and play a little bit better tennis," he said.
"That will definitely help me for the next matches."
With Poland ahead 1-0, Iga Swiatek came out against Katie Boulter looking to seal the tie. Having never played on the professional tour, the pair produced arguably the WTA match of the tournament so far, locking into pulsating rallies over the match’s 3-hour duration.
The Brit fought back from a break down to take the first set to a tiebreak before producing some of her best tennis late in the tiebreak to take the advantage.
In the second set, Swiatek showed her class, taking it 6-1, before Boulter came out swinging in the decider to take an early break. However, Swiatek took a lengthy medical timeout and broke immediately after the restart as the quality only continued to improve. At 4-4, Boulter had a break point to serve for the match and missed by millimetres on the baseline before Swiatek eventually secured a fighting hold. The momentum then shifted yet again as Swiatek took advantage of a poor game from Boulter to set up three match points before she eventually secured the match.
Boulter and Swiatek shared exchanges at both the net and at the team bench and while the Polish star declined to reveal what was said at these exchanges in press, she denied that taking the medical timeout at such a pivotal moment had a tactical element.
"I didn't take medical timeout to throw Katie off her game," Swiatek said. "I did it because I had to and I didn't feel well. But I took some painkillers and they started working pretty quickly. I was able to move a bit better.
"I felt that she got distracted a bit. She missed some shots right after the break, but it wasn't my intention, obviously. I don't do these kind of things to do it tactically. It was just that I needed it.”
With Poland facing the Elena Rybakina-led Kazakhstan on Saturday morning, they will be sweating on the fitness of Swiatek, who will be pivotal in ensuring that the team can reach the final for the second year in a row. However, Swiatek dispelled any doubts about her fitness in press and was looking forward to the challenge of facing Rybakina.
"Honestly nothing bad happened. It hurt at the time, but I'll have plenty of time to recover now… I think these two matches that I played will help me, because I know what I need to do after playing these two matches, and kind of I got through some tough moments. So it's not going to be so new, like, on the next one."
Italy face Czechia in the final quarterfinal tonight, before the winner takes on the USA following Poland v Kazakhstan on Saturday.
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