de Minaur leads Aussies to victory over the USA
Australia’s world no. 12 Alex de Minaur has played one of his best matches to defeat USA’s world no. 10 Taylor Fritz at the United Cup.
de Minaur taking the match 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 29 minutes.
The win setup Australia’s charge into the quarterfinals.
“I do know that I’m capable of this level,” de Minaur said. “So, it’s great to bring it out in a do-or-die match where we kind of needed a scenario where I potentially needed to win in straight sets.
“So, I was happy that I could bring the level, play the style of tennis I wanted to. And obviously it’s definitely up there with probably the top-five best matches I’ve played.”
Ajla Tomljanovic pushed Jessica Pegula to a tie-breaker in the first set before the American sealed a 7-6(6), 6-3 victory over the Australian.
The tie would be decided by the mixed doubles. Both countries having a formidable combination.
Austalia needed to win in straight sets to advance out of the group stage.
Local hero Matthew Ebden teamed up with world no. 1 doubles player Storm Hunter.
The Australians were at first challenged by the Americans before storming away to a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
“Obviously, a lot of pressure in that moment, and Matty and I just went out and did our thing,” Hunter said. “Yeah, we played a great match. It wasn’t till the end that we realised we qualified… To come out today, Demon played unreal.
“I think he really set the tone for the team, straightaway from the first point he was on. That was an unbelievable effort to watch. Then Ajla also played a great match and had a lot of opportunities.”