World No.1 Iga Swiatek has shrugged off an early challenge from Caroline Garcia, continuing her pre-Australian Open hot streak to book Poland's place in the final of the United Cup.
Swiatek won 4-6 6-1 6-1 in Sydney on Saturday, tidying up her game to run away with the match after France star Garcia threw an early punch and setting her team on the way to booking a final date with Germany.
It was the first time the 22-year-old had dropped a set since October last year - coincidentally, also against Garcia.
But the Pole showed a ruthless edge, brushing that setback aside to extend her run of consecutive wins to 15.
Her victory followed world No.9 Hubert Hurkacz's 6-3 7-5 defeat of Adrian Mannarino.
Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski completed a 3-0 win for the Poles with a 6-3 6-3 victory in the mixed doubles to seal their passage to Sunday's final where they will face Germany, 2-1 winners over Australia.
“Mentally, I needed to make a big adjustment because I was being impatient,” Swiatek said.
“I was making bad decisions and I needed to be more composed.
“After the break after the first set I came back more focused, so I’m pretty proud of myself."
Swiatek attributed her sluggish start to the change of venue.
Poland had spent the early rounds of the United Cup in Perth and the French Open champion said the Ken Rosewall Arena surface took some getting used to.
"Even though the surface is really similar, I would say I felt a little bit off with my rhythm," Swiatek said.
"I just knew I need some time for my brain to work on it."
Barring a tricky second set against world No.22 Mannarino, Hurkacz had a much easier run as he sealed his win an hour and 41 minutes.
Hurkacz won 31 of 36 points when landing his first serve and bombed 15 aces past Mannarino.
"Adrian is a really good competitor to play, it's not easy to play against him," Hurkacz said.
"You've got to sit patient and run a decent amount and it's a battle with him out there, so I'm really happy with the performance."
Poland - the competition's top seeds - have lost just one match all tournament.
They reached the semi-finals of last year's tournament and will fancy their chances after Germany were taken all the way in their three rubbers against Australia.
World No.6 Alexander Zverev was forced to play more than five hours across Saturday, winning in the mixed doubles and falling to Alex de Minaur in the men's singles.
