Rybakina-led Kazakhstan reaches United Cup semis; Swiatek/Hurkacz win group decider for Poland
Germany was without Alexander Zverev in seeing its title defense hopes dashed by the Kazakhs.
PERTH, Australia (AP) — Kazakhstan has advanced to the United Cup mixed teams tennis tournament semifinals with an unassailable 2-0 lead over a German team playing without the injured world No. 2-ranked Alexander Zverev.
Zverev was a late scratch for Germany on Wednesday due to a biceps injury. He was scheduled to face Alexander Shevchenko but withdrew at the last minute with Kazakhstan leading the tie 1-0 after Elena Rybakina beat Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-1.
Shevchenko beat Zverev's replacement, Daniel Masur, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2 to clinch the tie for Kazakhstan while Zverev watched from the sidelines.
Shevchenko took a medical timeout due to heat exhaustion while leading 1-0 in the second set. He came back from the break to dominate the rest of the match.
"It was a heat problem for sure," Shevchenko said. "I had a bit of a headache, my head was spinning. It was a struggle this match. To play in this heat was so tough."
The United States will play China on Wednesday night in the second quarterfinal in Perth. Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz led the U.S. into the final eight with a win in their final round-robin match on Tuesday.
In Sydney, Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz won their deciding mixed doubles match over the Czech Republic to quality Poland for the quarterfinals.
World No. 2 Swiatek and Hurkacz beat Tomáš Macháč and Karolína Muchová 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the decider at Sydney's Ken Rosewall Arena. The Polish team led 5-2 before allowing the Czechs back into the set.
In earlier singles, Macháč gave the Czech Republic the lead with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win over Hurkacz before Swiatek evened the tie with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Muchová.
Later Wednesday in Sydney, Britain was scheduled to play Australia for a place in the quarterfinals.