Iga Swiatek Determined to Help Poland Secure the 2026 United Cup

Iga Swiatek to compete at the United Cup, which begins on Friday (January 2) in Perth, Australia.

Iga Swiatek Determined to Help Poland Secure the 2026 United Cup

Iga Swiatek (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

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Iga Swiatek is already in Australia, preparing for her participation at the United Cup, where she will represent Poland. The six-time Grand Slam champion has helped her country finish as runner-up in the last two editions of the tournament. Heading into 2026, she’s optimistic that they can finally win the championship.

For the fourth consecutive year, Swiatek will be part of a star-studded Polish team at the United Cup. She will compete alongside former World No.6 Hubert Hurkacz, who is one of the most experienced players on the team. However, he has struggled with injuries in the one and a half seasons, but hopes to make his influence known at the event.

Poland was eliminated in the semi-finals of the inaugural United Cup in 2023. The following year, they learnt from their previous mistakes but failed to win the tournament and also suffered the same fate in 2025. However, the Polish team has won 11 of its last 14 ties at the tournament.

The only team to hold the same record is the United States of America, which won the title in 2023 and 2025. Last year, it was precisely the Poles and the Americans who contested for the title, with Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz winning their singles match, which was enough to secure the trophy without needing the doubles.

Swiatek is currently the highest-ranked player on the Polish team, which will put the burden on her. During an interview with Eurosport, the 24-year-old revealed that she hopes Poland wins the United Cup, as they are entirely focused on doing so after finishing second place in the last two editions of the event:

So, I am happy to enjoy the sun and weather… I don’t know what we have to do. I feel like we played really well in recent years, but we’ve had a bit of bad luck, especially against Germany, where we had match points to win the tournament. But we have to take it step by step from the beginning. There’s no point in thinking about winning now, because first we have the group stage matches. I think we’ll focus on that.

The United States of America and Poland are the favorites to win the tournament, but other countries like Germany and Kazakhstan cannot be ruled out as they have proven they can compete with countries with star players. However, the tournament will kick off in Perth on Friday (January 2).

Iga Swiatek reveals her expectations for the 2026 United Cup

Iga Swiatek finished the 2025 season, winning just three titles, but crashed out in the round robin stage of the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The former World No.1 will hope to return to her best form at the United Cup, which will help set the momentum for the Australian Open in Melbourne, which starts on January 18.

Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek (Image via X/iga archive)

During the aforementioned interview, she was asked about her expectations at the United Cup. Swiatek noted that her participation in the United Cup will provide good results and confidence entering the Australian Open:

Going to Australia is always pretty exciting because you also have to see how your tennis will work. If you’re going to implement all the stuff that you worked on during the pre-season. So, I am gonna focus on the technical part of the matches and then hopefully we will bring some good results after that.

Swiatek will have an eye on the Australian Open title as winning it will make her become the 11th woman in the Open Era to complete a Career Grand Slam. She earned her best run at the event last January, reaching the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion Madison Keys in three sets.

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