Australia’s Alex de Minaur was in devastating type in his first match of the brand new season, however Argentina takes victory over Australia on the United Cup.
Sydney, Australia, 28 December 2024 | AAP
Australia has suffered an opening-night 2-1 loss on the United Cup, with Alex de Minaur notching the crew’s solely victory towards Argentina.
World No.9 de Minaur placed on a devastating show in his first hit-out of the season at Ken Rosewall Area, posting a 6-1 6-4 outcome over Tomas Etcheverry in 75 minutes.
His win squared the tie after Nadia Podoroska beat Olivia Gadecki 6-2 6-4 in Saturday’s girls’s singles earlier on Saturday.
Olympic doubles gold medallist Matthew Ebden and Ellen Perez needed to end off the job within the blended doubles towards Etcheverry and Maria Carle –who got here in for Podoroska – however misplaced 6-2 6-4.
Australia, captained by Lleyton Hewitt, endured an analogous destiny final yr, shedding 2-1 to Nice Britain within the first spherical of group levels, however had been in a position to scrape their approach to the quarterfinals.
Hewitt’s crew returns to motion on New 12 months’s day after they face a Nice Britain outfit together with Billy Harris and De Minaur’s fiancee Katie Boulter.
In his singles match, Sydney native De Minaur claimed the primary set towards Etcheverry inside 28 minutes and despatched the near-capacity crowd rocking with each level earned.
Etcheverry took 4 hard-earned video games within the second set after discovering his rhythm, however De Minaur prevailed with nice precision.
“Thank God I executed right this moment and acquired the win for Australia,” De Minaur stated. “Simply being again right here in Sydney, I adore it right here.
“I simply informed myself to again myself and play the kind of tennis I needed to play.”
Cheered on by a boisterous dwelling crowd within the second, the 22-year-old regarded able to mount a comeback after launching forward 4-3 however was in the end undone by her errors within the 88-minute contest.
The scoreline was the identical as when Gadecki final met Podoroska at this yr’s Indian Wells Open.
“It’s by no means simple, the primary match again however I’m pleased with how I performed and the way I competed,” Gadecki stated.
“Hopefully with each match, it is going to get higher and higher.”
Gadecki is making ready for direct main-draw entry to the Australian Open, having reached the world’s high 100 with a career-best run to the Guadalajara Open ultimate in September.
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