Australia’s United Cup campaign ends in narrow Group F exit

Australia have narrowly missed out on a quarter-final berth at the United Cup in Sydney despite beating Great Britain in their final tie on Wednesday.

The 2-1 victory meant Australia, Great Britain and Argentina all finished with a 1-1 record in Group F and three matches won.

However, a higher percentage of sets won meant that Great Britain advanced to the knockout phase, while Australia and Argentina were eliminated.

Great Britain’s advancement was secured when Katie Boulter won the opening match between the two nations on Wednesday, racing past Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-1.

Alex de Minaur kept Australia in the hunt heading into the mixed doubles match, thrashing Billy Harris 6-2, 6-1 to give his nation a chance of bagging one of the two remaining second-place qualifying spots.

Needing to defeat Olivia Nicholls and Charles Broom for the loss of just four or less games, de Minaur and Gadecki were unable to book Australia’s spot in the knockout round, falling into a complicated second set that ended 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Despite missing out on the next phase of the tournament, the Australians were pleased with their efforts in Sydney.

“It was great,” de Minaur said afterwards.

“I enjoyed every second we had here on this Sydney court.

“I enjoyed playing mixed with Liv a lot.

It was a lot of fun, great atmosphere, thank you guys.

“We did our best.

“As I said, always a pleasure to play at home.”

“I’m so glad I got to share the court with Alex tonight,” Gadecki added.

“It was such a pleasure and I knew I had to step up.”

De Minaur’s next tournament will be the Australian Open which starts on Sunday, January 12 in Melbourne.

The Aussie sits on the ninth line of betting at most tennis betting sites, returning $51 at Neds to claim his first Grand Slam title.

Gadecki – ranked No.97 in the world – is a much longer shot at winning the women’s Australian Open.

She has tennis betting odds of $301 at the top online bookmakers, having only made it past the opening round of the tournament once previously.

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