Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic reacts throughout her singles match towards Belgium’s Elise Mertens.
| Photograph Credit score: Reuters
Belinda Bencic received her eighth match of the week and mixed with Jakub Paul within the deciding blended doubles to defeat Belgium’s Elise Mertens and Zizou Bergs 6-3, 0-6, 10-5 Saturday (January 10, 2026) to qualify Switzerland for the United Cup closing.
Bencic has received all 4 of her singles matches and 4 in blended doubles this week within the crew occasion. Paul, who received simply six tour-level doubles matches final 12 months, hit a number of down-the-line winners at essential moments to steer Switzerland into Sunday’s (January 11) closing towards both the defending champion United States or Poland, who performed their semifinal later Saturday (January 10).
“He’s so courageous it’s unbelievable,” Bencic stated of Paul. “I inform him to go (for it) and he really goes. It’s loopy.”
Earlier, Bencic prolonged her undefeated season-opening singles streak when she beat Mertens 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (0) to place Switzerland forward 1-0. However Stan Wawrinka, who will retire on the finish of this season, was crushed 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 by Bergs to ship the match to a blended doubles decider at Ken Rosewall Area.
The turning level within the Wawrinka-Bergs match got here within the eighth sport of the third set when Bergs broke Wawrinka’s serve to go up 5-3, then held serve to win the match.
Match organizers began play half-hour sooner than scheduled with searing temperatures of as much as 43 Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) within the forecast for Sydney.
Bencic had received all six units in her first three matches on the United Cup. She was two video games away from one other two-set win earlier than Mertens pushed the match the space.
Then Mertens got here from 3-1 down within the third set, saved a pair of break factors that may have given Bencic a 4-1 lead, and was two factors away from the set win with Bencic serving at 30-30, down 6-5.
However Bencic received the final 9 factors of the match following a call to vary her racket to a freshly-strung one, taking the match in 2 hours, 37 minutes.
“It seems like 170 kilos fell off my shoulders — I used to be so pressured; I actually wished to do properly, and immediately I felt a lot strain to not let my crew down,” Bencic stated.
On the racket change, she stated, “My mind turned off and let my instincts take over. I believe it was only a feeling.”
Later Saturday (January 10) within the different semifinal, No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland was scheduled to face No. 4 Coco Gauff of america and Hubert Hurkacz performed American Taylor Fritz. A blended doubles match can be performed if the groups have been degree after the singles.
Within the Poland-Australia quarterfinal on Friday (January 9), it took a blended doubles decider to separate the groups.
Printed – January 10, 2026 03:58 pm IST
