United Cup: De Minaur falters but Hunter impresses as Australia survive Norway scare

Australia got their 2026 United Cup off to a winning start, defeating Norway 2-1 in a very closely contested opening matchup in group D.

It was not as straightforward for Australia as they would have liked it to be. With their bright talent Joint not taking to the court due to illness, they were already at a slight disadvantage. However, they still proved too strong for Norway, as they perch themselves in the lead position for qualification out of the group.

Doubles specialist Storm Hunter was drafted in to compete against Malene Helgo in the singles tie. The former doubles number one proved too strong for the Norwegian, triumphing 6-2, 7-6 (3).

After an early hold from Helgo, Hunter showed her intentions with a rampant spell where she broke the serve twice enroute to winning five games on the spin while not giving her opponent a sniff. It should have been six games and the set but two missed set points allowed Helgo to prolong the seemingly inevitable, which occurred on Hunter's serve in the next game, taking another three tries to eventually get the first set on the board. 

The second set was much tighter. This time, it was Helgo who took the advantage, with the world number 532 failing to claim two early break points before finally clinching a crucial break to go 3-1 up. Hunter broke back but a terrific reply from Helgo saw her serving out for the set. Unfortunately, she could not get over the line as Hunter levelled up. It went the distance, with the Aussie showing her class. After levelled at 2-2, she won five of the next six points to give the hosts the advantage in Sydney.

Casper Ruud was able to get Norway back on track with a hard fought 6-3, 6-3 win over the world number seven Alex de Minaur.

The three-time Grand Slam finalist's only win against de Minaur had come in a Challenger event back in 2018, losing the prior three times with the most recent coming in the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final exhibition. He was hunting for revenge, and got off to a quick start. Via a break of serve in the second game, he raced into a 3-0 lead, It could have been 4-0 if de Minaur had not saved four break points. He failed to clinch one of his own later on as Rudd went 5-2 ahead before continuing the winning on serve pattern to win the first set. The final game was not a walk in the park with him finding himself 0-40 down. He was able to drag himself back into it before taking his third set point.

There were limited chances for breaks in the second set, but it was Ruud who took his one and only chance, which in the end proved to be enough. He broke to go 2-1 ahead, and survived two break points later on de Minaur to get a first win on the board for Norway.

Hunter returned to the court to join forces with John-Patrick Smith, with them coming back from a set deficit to defeat Viktor Durasovic and Ulrikke Eikeri 4-6, 6-1, 10-4.

The Norwegian pair got off to the brighter start, winning the first set 6-4 with a late break of serve in the final stages. This advantage would be quickly disposed of by a resurgent Hunter and Smith, cheered on by a home suppport. They won four games in a row before comfortably wrapping up the second set to force a highly anticipated third set tiebreak to split the two nations.

In the end, the tie went Australia's way. They were utterly dominant in the 10-point tiebreak, stamping their authority early on before clinching their first match point on offer to give them a winning start to life in group D.

Norway will not have long to dwell on this disappointment, with Czech Republic their next task on January 5. The Czech's boast the likes of Barbora Krecjikova and Jakub Mensik in their ranks, making them formidable opponents. Australia will play the concluding tie of group D against them on January 6, with there being a possibility that it could be for a place in the knockout phase.