World number two Iga Swiatek defied a partisan crowd to thrash Australian Maya Joint in Sydney on Friday and help take Poland into a United Cup semi-final clash with the USA.<\/p>\n
Joint<\/a> is a talent at age 19, but she was blown away by the six-time Grand Slam champion, Swiatek<\/a>, teaching her a lesson in a 6-1, 6-1<\/a> victory in 58 minutes.<\/p>\n The 24-year-old Swiatek will be among the favourites when the Australian Open starts on January 18th, and this showed why as she won a third match in a row.<\/p>\n Later, Alex de Minaur<\/a> defeated Hubert Hurkacz<\/a> 6-4, 4-6, 6-4<\/a> in the men’s singles to level the quarter-final at 1-1 and give the hosts hope.<\/p>\n However, Poland won the deciding mixed doubles<\/a> to set up a last-four showdown with reigning champions the United States in a repeat of last year’s final.<\/p>\n That tees up Swiatek against world number four Coco Gauff<\/a>.<\/p>\n The other semi-final on Saturday is between Belgium and Switzerland.<\/p>\n The United Cup is a mixed-teams competition featuring 18 countries and serves as a build-up to the Australian Open.<\/p>\n