Alexander Zverev fumes over Hubert Hurkacz’s “f***ing crazy” serve in United Cup loss

Alexander Zverev didn’t mince words about Hubert Hurkacz’s “f###ing crazy” serve during Germany’s 0–2 defeat to Poland at the United Cup on Monday.

Poland went on to sweep Germany 3–0 at the international team event, with victories from WTA world No. 2 Iga Swiatek—who defeated Eva Lys—and Hurkacz, who was competing in his first match since June 2025 as he returned from injury.

Formerly world No. 6 and currently ranked No. 83, Hurkacz delivered a stellar performance against the world No. 3 to open the tie, stunning Zverev 6–3, 6–4 in one hour and 24 minutes. His booming serve was firing on all cylinders, blasting 21 aces across two sets and saving the only break point he faced.

Read More: In first match in seven months, Hubert Hurkacz takes out Alexander Zverev at United Cup

It was all too much for a frustrated Zverev, who provided an expletive-laden assessment to his father and coach, Alexander Zverev Sr.—a former top Soviet Union player—during a changeover.

“Why am I not serving? No, he hasn’t played in two f###ing years and he comes out serving at 230 km/h,” Zverev ranted in Russian. “In the evening, when it’s cold, f###. It’s f###ing crazy. The guy can barely f###ing walk, and he’s serving.”

After Hurkacz and Swiatek secured Poland an insurmountable lead, the mixed doubles team of Katarzyna Kawa and Jan Zielinski completed the sweep with a 7–6 (6), 6–3 win over Zverev and Laura Siegemund.

The result sees Poland (1–0) top Group F after two days of round-robin action in Sydney. Germany (1–1) sits second in the group after sweeping all three matches against the Netherlands (0–1). Poland and the Netherlands will face off on Wednesday in the final match of Group F.

For Hurkacz, the victory marked the 20th Top 10 win of his career—and an encouraging sign in his comeback from injury.

“(I’m) just very happy to be back competing again,” Hurkacz said during Team Poland’s press conference. “It was a difficult match against Sascha, and I was quite happy with my performance.

“Definitely was waiting for the moment to come back and play. I was enjoying the competition and came up with a win, so definitely even better ending.”