Alex de Minaur wins but Australia lose United Cup opener to Argentina
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Australia only have to point to recent history to know not to be disheartened by their opening night 2-1 loss to Argentina in the United Cup. Alex de Minaur notched the only victory against Argentina, the world No 9 putting on a devastating display to beat Tomas Etcheverry 6-1, 6-4 at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena in 75 minutes.
![[Matthew Ebden and Ellen Perez lost their group stage mixed doubles match against Argentina.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/633df09c8639444f61a3de4f3b961cbdc072044f/468_0_5391_3235/master/5391.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
His win squared the tie after Nadia Podoroska beat Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-4 in Saturday’s women’s singles earlier. Olympic doubles gold medallist Matthew Ebden and Ellen Perez had to finish off the job in the mixed doubles against Etcheverry and Maria Carle - who came in for Podoroska - but instead lost 6-2, 6-4.
![[Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt cheers on Alex de Minaur after he beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/040db5c35b4516be0af61b98c99bf6b38dffce14/0_298_6000_3600/master/6000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt is taking little out of their defeat, having also endured a first-round loss last year before scraping their way to the quarter-finals. His team returns to action on New Year’s Day when they face a Great Britain outfit including Billy Harris and de Minaur’s fiancee Katie Boulter.
![[Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska defeated Australia’s Olivia Gadecki in the singles match.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/169c9ccecaa0b8907027277716b966c8816d85e8/0_116_5057_3036/master/5057.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“We’ll give ourselves every chance,” Hewitt said. Cheered on by a boisterous home crowd in the second, the 22-year-old looked ready to mount a comeback after going ahead 4-3 but was ultimately undone by her errors in the 88-minute contest. “All we can do is prepare as well as possible. We’ve got three days off now as well so it’s really just trying to prepare,” said Hewitt. “No matter what happens though, it’s great preparation for these guys going into the Australian Open.”.
