Bencic leads Switzerland past Belgium into United Cup final

(Corrects by removing erroneous ‌reference to Sunday's final being moved forward in paragraph 6)

Jan 10 : Belinda Bencic led Switzerland to their first United Cup final on Saturday with a hard-fought victory over Belgium, beating Elise Mertens in the singles before returning alongside Jakub Paul to clinch a doubles win.

In the deciding mixed doubles match, the Swiss duo claimed a 6-3 0-6 10-5 win over Belgium's Mertens and Zizou Bergs in an hour and 17 minutes.

Bencic and Paul coasted through the first set ‌but won a total of just 12 points in the second set ‌as the match went into a tiebreak.

The Swiss pair did well to shake off their collapse and refocus, taking five points in a row to give themselves a 9-4 lead and then crossing the finish line when Bergs netted a return.

"It's easy to find the energy with this team. It's just great to play with Belinda. I mean, just hats off to her to play almost 3 hours and then come out ‍again for the doubles," Paul said.

The tie was played in gruelling conditions, with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing a severe heatwave warning as temperatures hovered around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

Earlier on Saturday, Bergs needed an energy-sapping two and a half hours on court to beat Stan Wawrinka 6-3 6-7(4) 6-3.

In his singles match against the ​three-times Grand Slam champion Wawrinka, Bergs took ‌the first set with ease but was pushed hard in the second as the Swiss captain rallied to level the match.

Bergs found himself down 40-0 on Wawrinka’s serve at 4-3 in ​the third set, but the Belgian clawed his way back and claimed a decisive break.

In the tie's first match, ⁠Bencic kept her undefeated run at the tournament ‌alive as she beat Elise Mertens 6-3 4-6 7-6(0) and put