Australia is up against it in the United Cup semi-finals on Saturday, with Alex de Minaur trailing Alexander Zverev after Ajla Tomljanovic fell short in a three-set epic against Angelique Kerber.
Tomljanovic made the perfect start but the former World No.1 Kerber showed her class to claim the final two sets — and the match — 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (9-7), securing her first win since Wimbledon in 2022.
De Minaur, meanwhile, struggled to find a way to combat the power of Zverev, who hit eight aces on the way to taking the opening set 7-5.
DE MINAUR VS ZVEREV MATCH CENTRE, LIVE SCORES
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Kerber put the pressure on Tomljanovic early as she secured a break on the first game of the opening set, which went to four deuces.
Tomljanovic though responded in perfect fashion after dropping her opening service game and she found success with the backhand to break right back.
The Australian then held serve and broke Kerber two more times on the way to opening up a 5-1 advantage.
Tomljanovic almost broke Kerber once again to take the first set 6-1, surviving five break points to force four deuces, before eventually double faulting to see the former World No.1 stay alive.
It looked like it would short-lived but Kerber showed her class to quickly hold serve before breaking Tomljanovic once more in a stunning turnaround after the Australian’s early dominance.
Tomljanovic, to her credit, recovered from the shaky finish to break back and secure the first set 6-4.
Kerber though wound back the clock to claim the second set 6-2, immediately breaking Tomljanovic while shortening the length of some of her service games.
It left Tomljanovic looking visibly flat while a fired-up Kerber appeared to have all the momentum heading into the decisive set.
That proved to be the case as Kerber immediately broke Tomljanovic once more on her opening service game of the third set.
The Kerber forehand continued to cause all kinds of problems for Tomljanovic, who was hitting a few ferocious shots of her own but a re-energised Kerber was returning with plenty of fire and precision.
As hard as Tomljanovic tried to work her way back into the match it looked like she was in desperate need of a slip-up from Kerber and the former World No.1 provided it as she committed a double fault for the first time in the match as the Australian broke back.
Tomljanovic though put herself in the position to score the crucial break after winning a 25-shot rally to open the eighth game of the third set.
It was just that kind of match where just as Tomljanovic appeared to be getting back on top Kerber would respond with an incredible shot of her own.
Thus, it was fitting that the third and decisive set would go to a tiebreak and in the end it was Kerber who saved match point twice to come out on top in a gruelling thriller.
“Ajla played an amazing match,” Kerber said.
“We both played at a really high level. It is so great to see her back as well after the injury last year. For me, it is the first win after coming back and it is really a great feeling.
“I just tried to play as many matches as possible before going to Melbourne. I tried to learn as well from the last three matches and coming out here and winning now… it is such a tough battle.
“It means a lot to me. It is great to have a match like this before going to the Australian Open.”
It now leaves de Minaur needing to win his match against Zverev to keep Australia alive.
Both de Minaur and Tomljanovic carried plenty of momentum into their respective matches after Australia swept Team Serbia 3-0 in the quarterfinals.
Earlier in the week, de Minaur pulled off a stunning upset victory over world No.1 Novak Djokovic, who boasted a 43-match winning streak in Australia before going down to the 24-year-old.
“It’s hard to put into words. It’s a very good feeling,” De Minaur said after his win over Djokovic.
“Everything that could have gone well went well today. I’m happy that I can say I got a win over the GOAT.”
On Saturday night de Minaur will face another big challenge against Zverev, who he is on the wrong end of a 1-6 head-to-head record against.
De Minaur claims huge victory over Joker | 01:18
Australian duo Storm Hunter and Matt Ebden close out the night against Laura Siegemund Maximilian and Marterer.
While De Minaur understandably has dominated the headlines following his statement victory over Djokovic, Hunter and Ebden are the only Australians to remain undefeated in three ties at the United Cup.
That is particularly important given de Minaur and Tomljanovic both dropped their matches in Australia’s opening tie against Great Britain while the latter then went down to Team USA’s Jessica Pegula.
In other words, Australia wouldn’t be in this position in the first place if it was not for Hunter and Ebden and they may be called on again to save the day late on Saturday night.
EARLIER: POLAND INTO FINAL AFTER SWEEP OVER FRANCE
Four-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek and teammate Hubert Hurkacz swept top seeds Poland into the United Cup final on Saturday with a hard-fought victory over France.
Hurkacz, at a career-high nine in the world, defeated left-hander Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 7-5 in Sydney before world number one Swiatek toppled Caroline Garcia 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.
They will play either Alexander Zverev’s Germany or hosts Australia in Sunday’s mixed teams competition decider in the lead-up to the Australian Open.
It is the first final for Poland, who lost at the semi-final stage last year to eventual champions the United States.
“I’m happy that I came back and I didn’t make so many mistakes as in the first set,” Swiatek said. “For sure, Caro was putting pressure as usual, so I’m happy that we’re through to the final.
“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,” she added.
Garcia was France’s saviour in their 2-1 win over Norway in the quarter-finals, coming through a titanic struggle against unheralded Malene Helgo, then backing up to win in mixed doubles.
She again displayed her fighting spirit in breaking Swiatek for a 4-3 lead and taking the first set in 43 minutes.
But that was as good as it got for the world number 20, who folded as Swiatek moved through the gears to dominate the rest of the match Swiatek grabbed the momentum back in the second set, surging to a 5-0 lead before converting her third set point at 5-1.
A break to love in the opening game of the deciding set deflated Garcia, with Swiatek largely untroubled as she raced to the finish line.
A steady Hurkacz played well in the critical moments and held serve with few problems to close out his match in 1hr and 41mins.
“I think definitely today was a real battle,” said Hurkacz, who won the Shanghai Masters last year and also tasted victory at Marseille.
“Adrian was playing really, really tricky shots and it’s difficult to play against.
“So I was just battling for every single point, and I think mentally I was able to stay in the present, stay positive before each point and I think I was also really resilient today.”
— AFP
