Brisbane International: Aryna Sabalenka sets up Marta Kostyuk final

Switzerland reached the final of the United Cup for the first time by beating Belgium 2-1 in Sydney.

They will face Poland in the final of the mixed gender tournament after Belinda Bencic and Jakub Paul beat Elise Mertens and Zizou Bergs 6-3 0-6 10-5 after a match tie-break at the Ken Rosewall Arena.

Bencic, who beat Mertens in a thrilling three-set singles match earlier, has won all eight of her matches in United Cup history.

“It feels like 170 kilos fell off my shoulders,” she said.

“I was so stressed. I really wanted to do well and today I felt so much pressure to not let my team down.”

Poland, meanwhile, clinched a 2-1 semi-final victory over defending champions USA to seal their third consecutive final appearance.

American world number four Coco Gauff beat second-ranked Iga Swiatek 6-4 6-2 to level the tie at 1-1, following USA team-mate Taylor Fritz’s 6-7 (1-7) 6-7 (2-7) defeat by Hubert Hurkacz in the men’s singles.

French Open champion Gauff, 21, then partnered Christian Harrison in the mixed doubles but lost to Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (3-7) in the early hours of the morning.