Comeback complete!
After losing its opening Group C tie against Great Britain, Australia’s United Cup hopes hung by a thread. Fast forward 72 hours and Australia is into the quarter-finals after earning victory against defending champion United States on Monday in Perth.
Heading into a winner-takes-all mixed doubles clash, Matthew Ebden and Storm Hunter defeated Jessica Pegula and Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-1 to ensure the home nation topped Group C at the 18-country mixed-teams event.
"This means everything," Hunter said. "It is a dream come true. Playing in front of the home crowd and playing with Matty, a Perth local, it is a dream come true to win and go into the quarter-finals at home."
Quarter-finals bound ✈️🇦🇺@mattebden and @stormsanders94 knock out defending champions Team USA to put Team Australia into the last eight.#UnitedCup pic.twitter.com/fmrV3yX7ma
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 1, 2024
Earlier in the evening, Alex de Minaur boosted Australia’s United Cup quarter-final hopes when he overcame Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2 to give Australia a 1-0 lead. American Jessica Pegula was then made to work by Ajla Tomljanovic, but the World No. 5 battled past the Australian to win 7-6(6), 6-3 sending the tie to a deciding mixed-doubles match.
Matthew Ebden and Storm Hunter walked onto court inside a packed RAC Arena needing to win in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals. After a dominant first set, they rallied from a break down in the second set to advance after one hour and two minutes.
"It's super up there, super special," Ebden said. "You can't almost compare it to anything like Davis Cups, like these team comps that we play for Australia, especially here at home, being West Aussies. For me, it's super exciting, way up there. Some of those great memories, I can't compare it to anything. It's up there on its own."
Ebden and Hunter raised their hands in the air after triumphing, taking in the roars from the raucous crowd. Australia will play the winner of Group E in the last eight on Wednesday evenig in Perth.
In earlier singles action, Pegula faced down Tomljanovic to come back from a precarious deficit in each set to engineer her first win of the season.
After failing to hold on to an early break lead in the opening set, Pegula found herself facing set points to Tomljanovic as she served down 5-4. The American quickly tapped into her trademark fighting qualities, wiping out three set points with courageous serving to hold.
Little separated the two in the tiebreak, but Pegula edged ahead at 6-5 to earn her first set point. Tomljanovic, who spent the bulk of the 2023 season on the sideline due to injury, kept Pegula in the extended set, saving two set points before finally relenting after 63 minutes.
Tomljanovic did not let her disappointment linger. She broke Pegula early in the second set and built a 3-1 lead before the American once again fought her off. Though she struggled to find her trademark consistency throughout the match, Pegula found her best ball-striking when it mattered. She clawed her way back from a break down to reel off four straight games to close out the physical one-hour and 52-minute encounter.
Earlier, de Minaur boosted Australia’s United Cup quarter-final hopes when he overcame Fritz 6-4, 6-2 to give the home nation a 1-0 lead in its Group C tie against the United States.
"Today was a new year, new me," de Minaur said. "I was in a great headspace and I played the tennis I wanted to be playing, so I'm very happy with that.
“Taylor has got some explosive firepower and you can't let him dictate. My mindset was to take it to him from the first ball and take any small chances I had to dictate the point. It doesn't always work out, but it did today."
Meeting for the eighth time in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, de Minaur played aggressive, front-foot tennis in front of raucous Aussie fans inside the RAC Arena against World No. 10 Fritz. He took the ball early off both wings to rush the American, triumphing after one hour and 34 minutes. The 24-year-old now leads Fritz 5-3 in career meetings.
Cheered on by captain Lleyton Hewitt, de Minaur has now earned 14 Top 10 Pepperstone ATP Rankings wins.
