ATP Tour

De Minaur at the double! Australia battles past Czechia to reach United Cup QFs

Alex de Minaur once again carried the weight of the green and gold with distinction on Tuesday night at the United Cup in Sydney, where he pulled double duty to send Australia past Czechia into the quarter-finals.

After Barbora Krejcikova dispatched Maya Joint in straight sets, Australia faced an uphill battle to qualify on home soil. But the 26-year-old De Minaur fed off a lively Ken Rosewall Arena atmosphere to defeat Jakub Mensik 6-4, 6-1 before partnering Storm Hunter to overcome Miriam Skoch and Dalibor Svrcina 6-2, 6-3, sealing a 2-1 victory to top Group D.

With Krejcikova’s triumph, Czechia also advanced to the quarter-finals as the best runner-up in Sydney.

“The atmosphere was unbelievable. Saturday night was incredible and tonight you delivered again,” Hunter said on court. “Demon brings energy, he’s so clutch under pressure. So I felt really comfortable and confident with him by my side.”

Mensik produced moments of flair early in the second set against De Minaur, highlighted by an audacious front-facing tweener volley set up by a booming first serve. But the Australian remained relentless, saving all four break points he faced en route to improving his record to 5-0 against the Czech in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“I didn’t start the year the way I wanted to,” said De Minaur, who fell to Casper Ruud in his first group match. “But something I’ve done really well in my career is bouncing back, so I’m happy I bounced back today.”

Stop that RIGHT now Jakub 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/my03sGnbS5

— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 6, 2026

In the women’s singles, Krejcikova continued her strong start to the 2026 season with a comprehensive 6-4, 6-1 victory over Joint to give Czechia the early lead.

The 30-year-old, WTA No. 63 after missing the first five months of the 2025 season, jumped out to a 4-1 lead against Australian No. 1 Joint, who had missed her country’s opening tie of the competition due to illness. Although Joint narrowed the gap to 4-3, Krejcikova held firm to close out the opening set 6-4 and ran away with the second.

“I’m very happy with my performance,” Krejcikova said. “I’m happy with the way I played from beginning to end. I had great support as well. It was a little up and down in the first set, but I’m happy to come through. I was trying to be aggressive from the start, and it’s nice to have some matches under my belt. I felt a little better on the court today.”