Wednesday ended in celebration for Team Italy despite a narrow defeat to Poland in the United Cup‘s Brisbane City Final. Falling 3-2 in a tie decided by the mixed doubles finale, the Italians earned a place in the semi-finals with the best overall record among the day’s three losing teams — beating out Croatia and Great Britain to join winners Poland, the United States and Greece in Sydney for the Final Four that begins Friday.
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. Musetti teamed with Camilla Rosatello for the mixed doubles decider, but the pair was turned back 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. The full semi-final schedule is below.
ORDER OF PLAY – FRIDAY, JANUARY 06, 2023
KEN ROSEWALL ARENA start 1:00 pm
[2] I. Swiatek (POL) vs [3] J. Pegula (USA)
[2] D. Michalski (POL) vs [3] F. Tiafoe (USA)
Not Before 7:00 pm
[1] M. Sakkari (GRE) vs [5] M. Trevisan (ITA)
[1] M. Pervolarakis (GRE) vs [5] L. Musetti (ITA)
ORDER OF PLAY – SATURDAY, JANUARY 07, 2023
KEN ROSEWALL ARENA start 10:00 am
[2] H. Hurkacz (POL) vs [3] T. Fritz (USA)
[2] M. Linette (POL) vs [3] M. Keys (USA)
Mixed Doubles Match: POL vs USA
Not Before 5:00 pm
[1] S. Tsitsipas (GRE) vs [5] M. Berrettini (ITA)
[1] D. Papamichail (GRE) vs [5] L. Bronzetti (ITA)
Mixed Doubles Match: GRE vs ITA
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