Alex de Minaur makes career-defining breakthrough – but it’s not enough for Australia in United Cup

Alex de Minaur has achieved a lifetime’s ambition by breaking into the top ten of the ATP rankings for the first time, but Australia still crashed out of the United Cup despite his heroics in front of a raucous Sydney crowd.

De Minaur sealed his third consecutive win against an ATP top ten player as he beat Germany’s Alexander Zverev 5-7 6-3 6-4 in Sydney.

There were wild scenes as de Minaur came back from losing the first to secure another victory, backing up his impressive performances to beat American Taylor Fritz and world No 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia earlier in the United Cup.

De Minaur is now guaranteed to break into the top 10 for the first time on Monday, becoming the first Australian since United Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt in July 2006 to do so.

“It’s what I’ve worked so hard for. It’s another milestone. But the job’s not done,” said de Minaur as he toasted his top ten breakthrouh. “I’m going to enjoy this Aussie summer, that’s for sure.”

De Minaur’s impressive form will make him a player to watch at the Australian Open, as he confirmed he relished the chance to play on home soil.

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The moment Team Germany earned their spot in the #UnitedCup final 💥 pic.twitter.com/BsMq0ODv0s

— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 6, 2024

“I love being back home,” de Minaur said. “I’ve said it before, but every time I step out on court here it feels special. This is my favourite court in the whole world and every time I step out here I get goosebumps. I love being here and I’m very grateful for all the support.

“I hung in there. Sascha is a hell of a competitor. He’s a hell of a player and he was just being too good for me.

“I managed to get out of jail a little bit in that second set, a couple of break points and then I just freed up a little bit and all of a sudden got a couple of cheap errors from him late in the second set and all of a sudden the whole momentum changed, the crowd got behind and I just tried to ride the wave.”

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De Minaur’s brilliance were not enough to propel Australia into the United Cup final as Germany’s former No 1 Angelique Kerber came from a set down and saved two match points to defeat Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(7) in two hours, 34 minutes.

“Ajla played an amazing match,” said Kerber. “I think we both played at a really high level. It’s so great to see her back after injury last year.

“For me, it’s the first singles win after coming back and it’s really a great feeling.”

Zverev then returned to the court to team up with Laura Siegmund to beat the Australian mixed doubles pairing of Storm Hunter and Matthew Ebden 15-13 in a third set decider to seal a place in the United Cup Final against Poland.

In the other United Cup semi-final, the powerhouse duo of Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz fired Poland into the final with a convincing win against France.

Swiatek came from behind to seal her nation’s semi-final tie against France as she recorded a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Caroline Garcia.

“I’m happy that I came back and I didn’t make so many mistakes as in the first set. For sure, Caro was putting pressure as usual, so I’m happy that we’re through to the final,” Swiatek said.

“Hubi played a great match today. He had everything under control, and it was nice watching that. For sure it [made it] a little bit easier for me

“Sometimes it’s a bit hard to point to one thing that changed after the first set. I just feel like I needed to calm down a little bit and not rush it, and also observe the ball a little bit more, because I felt like I was sometimes off the timing

“Maybe because we came from Perth, but for sure I needed some time to adjust, and I did that, so I’m happy.”

Earlier in the day, Hurkacz beat Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 7-5 to give his country a 1-0 lead.