Iga Swiatek says it is absolutely not true that her intention was to throw Katie Boulter off her game when she called a medical timeout early in the third set of their United Cup thriller.

The British number one had a break point at 4-4 in the deciding set against Poland’s five-time grand slam winner.

In Sydney, Italy earlier won Group D to qualify for the quarterfinals. Winners of the past two Davis Cups and runners-up two years ago to the U.S. in the inaugural edition of the season-opening mixed teams’ event, Italy won its group without world No.1 Jannik Sinner.

British No 1 Katie Boulter came agonisingly close to a career-defining victory before falling to world No 2 Iga Swiatek in an epic United Cup quarter-final clash in Sydney. The British hopeful pushed the five-time Grand Slam champion to the limit in a thrilling contest that stretched just short of three hours.