Quarter-finals bound ✈️🇦🇺 @mattebden and @stormsanders94 knock out defending champions Team USA to put Team Australia into the last eight. #UnitedCup
Defending champions USA are out of the 2024 United Cup as awesome Australia have found their way into the Quarter-Finals after a terrific comeback to topple Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz led USA 2-1.
After losing their opening Group C tie against Great Britain, their hopes hung by a thread, but they headed into the final match which saw Matthew Ebden and Storm Hunter face Pegula and Rajeev Ram in a winner-takes-all scenario and one they took 6-3, 6-1. But it was the true brilliance of Alex de Minaur before them that really gave them hope.
Quarter-finals bound ✈️🇦🇺 @mattebden and @stormsanders94 knock out defending champions Team USA to put Team Australia into the last eight. #UnitedCup
De Minaur thrashed Taylor Fritz in a near perfect win 6-4, 6-2 to give Australia a 1-0 lead. Ajla Tomljanovic then faced off against Jessica Pegula and produced a superb display but lost out to the World No.5 7-6 (6), 6-3 to send it all the way.
"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."
Then a fairytale home crowd ending saw Ebden and Hunter anchor a packed RAC Arena needing to win in straight sets to reach the Quarter-Finals and they rallied from a break down in the second to achieve just that and find their way into the Quarter-Finals where Novak Djokovic's Serbia could await. They didn't even know initially that they'd booked their spot but were told post match to a superb response.