Comeback kids! Germany rallies to win United Cup after Alexander Zverev staves off championship points

It almost felt like fate. After coming from behind to beat home favorites Australia in the semifinals, Germany sealed the 2024 United Cup title with an even more impressive comeback.

Led by Alexander Zverev's comeback against Hubert Hurkacz in men's singles—the 2020 Olympic gold medalist saved two championship points in the second set—the Germans battled back from the brink for a 2-1 win over Poland. In the deciding mixed doubles match, Zverev and Laura Siegemund teamed to beat Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek in a match tiebreak 6-4, 5-7, [10-4] to win it all.

The tie began ominously for the eventual champions—world No.1 Swiatek routed former No. 1 Angelique Kerber 6-0, 6-3, a day after Kerber won the first match of her comeback from maternity leave in dramatic fashion—and it looked all the more so when Zverev stared down a 7-6(3), 6-6(6-4) deficit in his second-set tiebereak against Hurkacz.

A passing shot that just kissed the line was the spark Zverev needed. He went on not only to win four staight points to snatch the set, but later took the match in a three-hour thriller, 6-7(3), 7-6(6), 6-4.

"I have absolutely no idea [how I won]. Also I saved a match point hitting a passing shot this much on the line, so this is how tennis goes sometimes," Zverev said in his on-court interview. "You win and lose by millimeters and today, I was lucky enough in a way."

Zverev was back on court in the final 20 hours after he and Siegemund saved two match points to beat Storm Hunter and Matthew Ebden in the semifinals' third and deciding mixed doubles match 7-6(2), 6-7(2), [15-13], a win which ended at 2:15 a.m. local time Sunday. Their second such win in as many days stretched into Monday.

Against Hurkacz and Swiatek—who were playing together for the first time since waxing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-0, 6-0 in the group stage on New Year's Day—a quick break in the second game got the Germans off to the perfect start, and they held that lead through to winning the first set. In set two, the script flipped, as Hurkacz and Swiatek had leads of both 3-0 and 5-3, but they ultimately needed five set points to send the match to a winner-take-all, 10-point deciding frame.

Again, the Germans started quickly and never looked back. They won six of the first seven points, and wrapped up the championship on their first match point after one hour and 45 minutes.

With five singles wins this week, Swiatek—who was named the event's most valuable player—will head into the Australian Open on a 16-match winning streak, a run that began last fall with titles in Beijing and at the WTA Finals in Cancun.