Photo: kyle tsui via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, cropped.
Vegan tennis star Hubert Hurkacz has won the United Cup with Poland, in his first tournament since knee surgery seven months ago. Poland beat Switzerland 2-1 in the final in Sydney on Sunday night to lift the mixed teams trophy for the first time, the United Cup reports.
Poland needed him. Iga Swiatek lost the opening match to Belinda Bencic 3-6 6-0 6-3, so Hurkacz had to beat Swiss captain Stan Wawrinka to keep the tie alive. He did it 6-3 3-6 6-3, hitting 18 aces and saving eight of the nine break points he faced. Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa then won the mixed doubles 6-4 6-3 to seal it.
It was a redemption story for Hurkacz, who lost the final in 2024 after holding two championship points and again in 2025 in a third-set tie-break. This week he won four of his five singles matches, including wins over top 10 players Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz. He said:
I'm kind of speechless. It's really incredible. Obviously personally, but also a massive day for Poland, for Polish tennis. We showed how strong we are as a Polish country in tennis. To win that trophy, it tastes incredible. After we came very close two times.
Hurkacz went vegan around 2018, partly on a recommendation and partly after watching programs about food, he told the ATP Tour in 2020:
I started to feel pretty good, with more energy, so I continued with it.
He admits he wasn't always a natural fit for it. As a kid he didn't like salad or most vegetables, but he has learned to love them, and he names Indian and Thai food among his favorites.
Hurkacz has been flying the flag for plant-based tennis for years. He won the Miami Open in 2021, beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon and took the Shanghai Masters in 2023. Last May he met Novak Djokovic in a plant-based final in Geneva.
Back from surgery and straight back to winning. Powered by plants.