Poland defeated Germany 3-0 in the second match of Group F of the 2026 United Cup, the mixed team tournament that kicks off the season in Oceania, which will include the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, starting on the 18th. The most surprising result came in the men’s singles tournament, where Hubert Hurkacz, number 83 in the ATP rankings, surprised everyone by defeating Alexander Zverev, number 3 in the world, by two sets to zero (6-3 and 6-4).
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Zverev didn’t handle the defeat well. In the second set, when he suffered a decisive break (at 3-3, 30-40) after a winning forehand from Hurkacz, he threw his racket to the ground and broke it. Shortly afterwards, the Pole closed the game with an ace.
Despite having a very low ranking, it is worth noting that Hurkacz was once one of the 10 best players in the world, but is returning from a seven-month absence due to a serious injury; his last match was in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in June last year. On his return to the courts, he defeated the third-placed player in the rankings in one hour and 23 minutes, using his serve as a weapon: 21 aces and 87% of points won with the first serve, without suffering any service break and after saving just one break point.
Stunned, Zverev could not believe what had happened. During one of the breaks, the German was heard talking to his teammates in the box at the Ken Rosewall Arena in Perth:
“Why am I not serving? This guy hasn’t played in two years and he’s serving at 230 km/h, at night and in the cold, it’s crazy. The guy can barely move, but he’s serving like this.”
On the other hand, Hurkacz, who reached 5th place in the world rankings in August 2024 and has 8 titles to his credit, commented:
“I hadn’t competed in a long time. During these seven months, I went through difficult times with the team; it was a big challenge. Everyone supported me and was by my side. We went through a long period without being able to compete, without knowing when I would be able to return to the court. I tried to savor and enjoy every moment.”
Clearly, it wasn’t Zverev’s day. In addition to the defeat to Hurkacz, he also lost in the mixed doubles alongside Laura Siegemund: the German pair were unable to overcome the Polish pair of Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa, who won 7-6 (10-8), 6-3. Earlier, Iga Swiatek secured another point for Poland by defeating Eva Lys 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Germany will now have to wait for the clash between Poland and the Netherlands to find out whether they will advance to the quarter-finals or be eliminated.
