Great Britain bowed out of the United Cup quarter-finals in spite of a promising battle against last year’s runners-up Poland.

Billy Harris opened the tie with a tough match against Hubert Hurkacz and had his chances against the former world No.6 before losing out 7-6(3), 7-5.

Facing former world No.1 and five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek, Katie Boulter played some incredible tennis, led by a set and had break point opportunities at 4-4 in the third, but eventually lost 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4 in just under three hours.

With the tie already decided, Poland’s Maja Chwalinska and Jan Zielinski closed out the win against Olivia Nicholls and Charles Broom 6-2, 7-6(3).

GB exit the tournament with plenty to take away and set them up for a strong start to the 2025 season.

Match one: Hurkacz puts Poland ahead despite gutsy performance from Harris

Former world No.6 Hurkacz put his team in front after claiming a hard-fought victory over Britain’s Harris 7-6(3), 7-5 in one hour and 46 minutes.

Harris – who is ranked over 100 places below his opponent in the ATP rankings – put in an inspired performance and had his opportunities against the two-time ATP Masters 1000 title winner.

“It was a difficult battle with Billy,” Hurkacz said. “He was paying some really good tennis so I’m happy to get through it. This win is crucial for me to get more confidence.”

In a battle between a pair of big servers, both players held their nerve throughout a tight opening set – with Harris saving two break points to force the tie-break.

In the breaker Hurkacz experience on the big stage shone through. The Polish No.1 barely put a foot wrong, forcing Harris to push his shots harder to stay in contention. Having gone behind an early mini break, Harris eventually pushed the ball long off both wings to give Hurkacz a one set lead.

The British star had three break points at 0-40 to start the second set, but Hurkacz’s serving dug him out of trouble once again – dropping only six points behind his first throughout the match.

On they fought to 5-5, where Hurkacz finally got the first break – putting away a punishing volley before Harris put a backhand in the net. Hurkacz served out the match to love, but there will be plenty of positives that Harris can take from this battle into Australian Open qualifying next week.

Match two: Swiatek overcomes Boulter in three-set thriller

Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek booked Poland’s place in the final four for a second year in a row after beating world No.24 Boulter 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4 in a blockbuster match lasting almost three hours.

“This match was crazy, so many changes in momentum,” said Swiatek after the match. “I thought I had it under control in the first set, but I got tight. I didn’t want to repeat the same mistake in the third. I tried to keep pushing knowing that I needed to keep up the quality, but it’s hard to be precise under so much pressure, but I made it today – it’s a step forward.”

Swiatek got off to a flying start against the British No.1 – dispatching an almost 140kmh backhand winner to break Boulter on her opening service game.

The Briton saw four break points come and go on the following agme, but she didn’t make the same mistake the next time around, putting away a punishing forehand winner to eventually draw level at 4-4.

Despite Swiatek raising her intensity in the first set tie-break, Boulter continued to match the world No.2’s level. The Brit overturned a mini break twice before firing her 17^th winner on her first set point to give GB a fighting chance of still reaching the semi-finals.

Swiatek produced the perfect response to falling behind with an almost faultless second set. The Polish star raced out to a 4-0 lead with back-to-back breaks before sealing the set with third game on the Briton’s serve.

Entering the third as the match clock struck two hours Boulter capitalised on three break points at 1-1 with a pinpoint forehand at the feet of the approaching Swiatek to take an early advantage.

However, the Brit was then thrown off rhythm after a lengthy medical time out then saw Swiatek break back immediately to love.

Boulter showed great resilience to see off two break points at 4-3 with two of her best rallies of the match to eventually level at 4-4, as both players continued to push to the absolute limit.

It was then the Pole’s turn to fight off the Briton, narrowly escaping a break of her own with a backhand winner that landed one millimetre inside the tramline.

With the tie on the line, Swiatek just had too much quality – breaking Boulter to love as she saw out one of the contests of the tournament so far.

Match three: Poland complete victory in mixed doubles

Chwalinska and Zielinski fought off a potential comeback from Nicholls and Broom to see out the victory 6-2, 7-6(3).

The Polish duo made an impressive start, breaking on Broom’s opening service game, thanks to an inch-perfect lob from Zielinski on the deuce deciding point.

The Brits managed to get on the board after winning their first of three deciding deuce points off Nicholls’ serve but were unable to make the breakthrough against a solid Polish pairing.

Zielinski – a former ATP Masters title winner in Rome – proved the dominant force on either side of the net. A comfortable hold for the Polish doubles No.1 helped steady the ship again before a series of errors on Nicholls’ next service game sealed a third break and with it, the set.

The Brits worked up three break points in the third game of the second set, but once again, Zielinski came to the rescue with a series of impressive winners at the net, including arguable the shot of the match on a short, angled volley.

Broom and Nicholls showed great fighting spirit to come back from 5-3 down to lead 6-5 and had the chance to serve out the set, but Nicholls’ struggles on serve continued. Into the tie-break and a mini break against the British women’s doubles No.1 proved crucial as the Polish sound reeled off the last four straight points.