Australia’s Alex de Minaur was in devastating kind 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 staff’s solely victory in opposition to 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 combined doubles in opposition to Etcheverry and Maria Carle –who got here in for Podoroska – however misplaced 6-2 6-4.
Australia, captained by Lleyton Hewitt, endured the same destiny final yr, dropping 2-1 to Nice Britain within the first spherical of group levels, however had been in a position to scrape their option to the quarterfinals.
Hewitt’s staff returns to motion on New 12 months’s day once 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 in opposition to 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 in the present day and obtained the win for Australia,” De Minaur stated. “Simply being again right here in Sydney, I like it right here.
“I simply advised myself to again myself and play the kind of tennis I wished to play.”
Cheered on by a boisterous residence crowd within the second, the 22-year-old seemed able to mount a comeback after launching forward 4-3 however was finally 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 straightforward, the primary match again however I’m proud of how I performed and the way I competed,” Gadecki stated.
“Hopefully with each match, it’ll 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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