Poland battled past Switzerland 2-1 in the United Cup final on Sunday to banish the pain of title-round defeats in the previous two editions and secure a long-awaited maiden triumph in the season-opening mixed-team competition.
Hubert Hurkacz continued his resurgence in his first event back after a near seven-month injury layoff by beating veteran Stan Wawrinka 6-3 3-6 6-3 to level the tie at 1-1 after Iga Swiatek lost 3-6 6-0 6-3 to an inspired Belinda Bencic.
The mixed doubles duo of Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski then downed Bencic and Jakub Paul 6-4 6-3 in the deciding match to trigger jubilant scenes in Sydney, where Poland finally converted their dominance into silverware.
Victory capped a superb campaign for Poland, who beat last year's champions the United States in the semi-finals, and set up Hurkacz to carry momentum into his singles campaign at the Australian Open that begins on January 18.
Six-times Grand Slam champion Swiatek heads into the year's opening major at Melbourne Park with back-to-back defeats after losing to Bencic on Sunday and Coco Gauff in the semi-finals, though she will remain among the top contenders.
F1 commission agrees to shorter races from 2027
Spain extend coach Luis de la Fuente to 2032
Infantino says he is open to talks over FIFA reform
Troubled Marseille lose fifth straight as PSG win
