Australia down 2-0 in first United Cup tie

December 29, 2022 09:40 PM AEDT | By AAPNEWS
Image source: AAPNEWS

Alex de Minaur's Australian Open preparation hit an early snag with a decisive 6-3 6-3 loss to Britain's Cameron Norrie before Zoe Hives fell to Katie Swan, consigning  Australia to a winless start at the United Cup.

The Australians did not take a set away from Great Britain on day one of the new mixed-gender team tournament and must win their mixed doubles clash and remaining two singles matches on Friday to claim the tie.

Nick Kyrgios' late withdrawal with an ankle injury meant de Minaur had less than 36 hours' notice he would be playing world No.14 Norrie at Ken Rosewall Arena on Thursday night.

The Sydney crowd made its feelings known; one spectator wore a Kyrgios tee shirt with a clown wig and makeup, while others held signs referencing Kyrgios' scratching.

Despite the last-minute change, world No. 24 de Minaur would've liked his chances of causing an upset, having defeated Norrie in the pair's only previous meeting this April.

But the Australian failed to convert three consecutive break points early in the first set in what proved to be his only chance to assert himself on the contest.

Norrie shut the local crowd out and clawed back to deny de Minaur the chance to break, winning that game and then scoring a break of his own in the next one.

"Alex had that early chance and wasn't able to take it," said Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt.

"But then Cam did very little wrong from start to finish. It just wasn't our night tonight."

De Minaur's serve packed a punch - his first of the night slammed into the net and brought the chair umpire down to conduct some emergency repairs.

But Norrie's precision from the baseline was unmatched and when the Brit won a rally to break de Minaur a second time and go up 3-2 in the second set, the Australian's chances were fading.

He came close to his own first break point of the night in the next game but could not convert on deuce as Norrie edged to victory in 91 minutes.

"I made a couple of errors in certain areas and just didn't play my best overall tennis," de Minaur said.

World No. 772 Hives is the lowest-ranked of the 72 singles players participating in the United Cup and only returned to tennis in January after more than two years out battling a heart condition.

The Australian did well to claw back from 4-1 down in the first set and claim two break points but was left to rue unforced errors against world No.145 Swan as she dropped the first set.

Undeterred, Hives claimed the first three games of the second set before Swan won the last six to claim a comfortable 6-4 6-3 win.

In Friday's singles matches, Australia's top women's seed Ajla Tomljanović meets Harriet Dart before Jason Kubler squares off against Daniel Evans.


Disclaimer

The content, including but not limited to any articles, news, quotes, information, data, text, reports, ratings, opinions, images, photos, graphics, graphs, charts, animations and video (Content) is a service of Kalkine Media Pty Ltd (“Kalkine Media, we or us”), ACN 629 651 672 and is available for personal and non-commercial use only. The principal purpose of the Content is to educate and inform. The Content does not contain or imply any recommendation or opinion intended to influence your financial decisions and must not be relied upon by you as such. Some of the Content on this website may be sponsored/non-sponsored, as applicable, but is NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold the stocks of the company(s) or engage in any investment activity under discussion. Kalkine Media is neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice through this platform. Users should make their own enquiries about any investments and Kalkine Media strongly suggests the users to seek advice from a financial adviser, stockbroker or other professional (including taxation and legal advice), as necessary.
The content published on Kalkine Media also includes feeds sourced from third-party providers. Kalkine does not assert any ownership rights over the content provided by these third-party sources. The inclusion of such feeds on the Website is for informational purposes only. Kalkine does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the content obtained from third-party feeds. Furthermore, Kalkine Media shall not be held liable for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the content obtained from third-party feeds, nor for any damages or losses arising from the use of such content.
Kalkine Media hereby disclaims any and all the liabilities to any user for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising from any use of the Content on this website, which is provided without warranties. The views expressed in the Content by the guests, if any, are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Kalkine Media. Some of the images/music that may be used on this website are copyrighted to their respective owner(s). Kalkine Media does not claim ownership of any of the pictures displayed/music used on this website unless stated otherwise. The images/music that may be used on this website are taken from various sources on the internet, including paid subscriptions or are believed to be in public domain. We have made reasonable efforts to accredit the source wherever it was indicated as or found to be necessary.
This disclaimer is subject to change without notice. Users are advised to review this disclaimer periodically for any updates or modifications.


AU_advertise

Advertise your brand on Kalkine Media

Sponsored Articles


Investing Ideas

Previous Next
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.