Australia booked its United Cup semi-final spot in style on Wednesday in Perth, where Alex de Minaur and Ajla Tomljanovic earned straight-sets singles wins to ease past the Novak Djokovic-led Serbia.
After falling to an opening group-stage defeat to Great Britain, the host nation has admirably resurrected its bid for United Cup glory in front of a series of delighted home crowds at RAC Arena. As Australia now prepares to head to Sydney for a semi-final against Greece or Germany, captain Lleyton Hewitt revealed what he believes has been the secret ingredient for his team’s success so far.
“It's been a lot of fun the whole week,” the former No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings Hewitt said in his team’s post-tie press conference. “Everyone's gelled together really well, which is important. Everyone has had each other's back. You see everyone come out and support each other.
“That's the Aussie way. It makes it easy for them to go out and play for each other out there."
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De Minaur notched the biggest win of his career by upsetting World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the opening match of the Serbia tie, before Tomljanovic breezed past Natalija Stevanovic to book Australia’s spot in the semi-finals in Sydney. WTA star Tomljanovic credited the Australia camp with helping her take the positives from her previous matches against Katie Boulter and Jessica Pegula in Perth, despite both of them ending in defeat.
“As soon as I lose, I don't think about how good it was,” said Tomljanovic, when asked if her performance against Pegula had boosted her confidence before taking on Stevanovic. “But thankfully a lot of people around me gave me objective feedback of how the match went and that it was good quality and that I definitely improved from Friday to Monday.
“I did know I did better but not getting the win… I don't really care about a better performance. Coming into the match tonight, it really felt, not deserved, but I did feel like it was due a little bit. But still really pleased that I got it done because it's never easy to finish off matches when you haven't played a while.”
The icing on the cake for Australia against Serbia was Western Australian duo Matthew Ebden and Storm Hunter improving to 3-0 in Perth mixed-doubles play by downing Nikola Cacic and Dejana Radanovic in straight sets. For Hunter, the opportunity to represent her country at home has been all the motivation she needs.
"Representing Australia is just the best feeling in the world,” said the WTA World No. 1 doubles player. “I love that pressure. Obviously with the mixed, it could come down to the mixed doubles in the live tie. Having Matty by my side, we have really gelled on the court. I have a lot of trust in him on the court, which makes it a lot easier and [I am] just enjoying it.
“This format, first time I have played it, really enjoyed being with the boys this week and also with Ajla and Ellen and Pratty, and Lleyton has been unreal. I think we have all just really enjoyed this format.”
Awaiting Australia in the semi-finals in Sydney on Saturday will be Greece or Germany. De Minaur, flying high from becoming the first player since 2018 to beat Djokovic on Australian soil, is looking forward to the chance to back up his milestone win in his hometown.
“I'm excited to go to Sydney,” said De Minaur. “I'm hoping we're going to be able to fill up Ken Rosewall Arena. Hope it's an amazing atmosphere, [I] love playing there, had some great memories there, played some great tennis there. Hopefully this whole team can keep it going.”
