The 24-year-old Alexander Shevchenko rallied to defeat Daniel Masur 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2 in a physical battle in Perth, moving Kazakhstan to an unassailable 2-0 lead in the quarterfinal tie after Elena Rybakina's commanding 6-3, 6-1 victory over Laura Siegemund in the first match of the tournament\u2019s knockout stages.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Masur had come in to replace World No. 2 Alexander Zverev, who withdrew due to a bicep strain but was unable to forge a memorable upset to keep Germany alive.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I\u2019m really proud that I found this win for our team, because I was fighting hard. I saw the faces of my team, and they didn\u2019t want to go to a decider. I was also a little bit nervous, because I knew if I won, the tie was over,\" Shevchenko said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Kazakhstan will travel to Sydney for the semifinals. It was knocked out of the United Cup on tournament debut in 2023 with a 0-2 record, but now has the chance to reach the title tilt.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Meanwhile, Hubert Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek clinched Poland's place atop Group B on Wednesday, defeating Czechia's Tomas Machac and Karolina Muchova 7-6(3), 6-3 to seal the critical tie 2-1 and a place in the quarterfinal of the United Cup.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Machac had moved Czechia to the brink of the quarterfinals at the start of the tie with a tense 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win against Hurkacz, before Iga Swiatek forced the deciding mixed doubles with a hard-fought 6-3, 6-4 victory over Muchova.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Hurkacz delivered his duo's 11th ace of the match to emerge victorious after one hour and 25 minutes. The Poles broke serve five times from 11 chances against the Czechs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Honestly, I was sure they were going to play amazing tennis because they have always great teams in doubles and mixed doubles. They are kind of raised that way. But I knew that we have the game to win it. For sure we were leading from the beginning. In the first set it got tight at the end, but I kind of felt that we were leading anyway so in the tie-break we just used that. In the end it seemed that we had everything under control,\" Swiatek said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Hurkacz delivered his duo's 11th ace of the match to emerge victorious after one hour and 25 minutes. The Poles broke serve five times from 11 chances against the Czechs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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