GB out of United Cup after Boulter loses to Swiatek

Katie Boulter fell agonisingly short of a stunning win over five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek as Great Britain’s hopes of reaching the United Cup semi-finals were ended by Poland.

Boulter, 28, needed victory to send the best-of-three tie into a deciding doubles, but lost 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-4 against world number two Swiatek in Sydney.

Both players shared a warm embrace at the net after an enthralling contest which lasted almost three hours.

“I’m exhausted. I’m happy I won so I didn’t have to play the doubles,” said Swiatek.

“This match was so crazy, there were so many changes of momentum.”

Britain’s hopes relied on Boulter causing a shock against the five-time major champion after Billy Harris narrowly lost to former world number six Hubert Hurkacz.

Harris, 29, pushed 16th-ranked Hurkacz in the opening match of the best-of-three tie before going down 7-6 (7-3) 7-5.

Poland, who were one of the pre-tournament favourites, will face Kazakhstan in the last four on Friday.

Harris, a late bloomer who has made huge strides in the past two years, was playing as Britain’s leading man, with Jack Draper nursing a hip injury and Cameron Norrie starting the season at an ATP event in Hong Kong.

Like in his defeats against Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Australia’s Alex de Minaur, the world number 125 acquitted himself well against a much higher-ranked opponent in Hurkacz.

However, he did not have the tools to earn the biggest win of his career and provide a platform for Britain to reach the last four.

Harris served strongly throughout but was unable to break 2021 Wimbledon semi-finalist Hurkacz and fell short in the decisive moments.

A costly error from Harris – a miscue long with an overhead – handed over an early mini-break in the first-set tie-break which allowed Hurkacz to clinically secured the lead.

Harris reset quickly to create three break points in the second game, only for Hurkacz to fight back from 0-40 with five huge serves getting him out of trouble.

Another tight set saw Harris eventually broken in the 11th game and, with the wind taken out of the Briton’s sails, Hurkacz quickly wrapped up victory with a hold to love.

There was further disappointment for British fans when Jodie Burrage missed the chance to reach the quarter-finals at the season-opening WTA event in Auckland.

The British number seven held a match point in the deciding set against American opponent Hailey Baptiste but could not convert and went on to lose 5-7 7-5 7-6 (8-6).

Burrage, 25, is trying to kickstart her career after missing large chunks of last season with wrist and ankle injuries.

After being given a late spot in the Auckland main draw as a lucky loser, she made the most of her opportunity with an opening win over New Zealand wildcard Vivian Yang.

Despite losing to 92nd-ranked Baptiste, the performances will stand Burrage in good stead going into the Australian Open, where she plays under an injury protected ranking.