Australia rocked at United Cup after brutal Alex de Minaur act as fiancee detail emerges

Australia's United Cup campaign has gotten off to a disappointing start in Sydney, despite a masterclass from Alex de Minaur against Argentina. The Aussie team crashed to a 2-1 opening night defeat to Argentina, with De Minaur's crushing victory over Tomas Etcheverry not enough as Olivia Gadecki went down to Nadia Podoroska and the mixed doubles pair of Matthew Ebden and Ellen Perez suffering a shock straight-sets defeat in the deciding match. It sets the scene for a must-win next up clash for Australia against a Great Britain team featuring De Minaur's fiancee, Katie Boulter.

De Minaur showed signs that he was back to his best after an injury-hit last season as he crushed Etcheverry 6-1 6-4 in just 75 minutes on Sydney's Ken Rosewall Arena. The win squared the tie after Podoroska beat Gadecki 6-2 6-4 in Saturday's women's singles match that kicked off the teams showdown between the two countries.

Australia's No.1 male De Minaur needed just 28 minutes to destroy Etcheverry in a near-flawless first set, before finishing the job in a more competitive second stanza to get Australia back on level terms. Aussie tennis great Todd Woodbridge hailed the display from De Minaur after describing Etcheverry as "a victim of excellence". And De Minaur was confident he was over the hip issue that saw him withdraw from Wimbledon earlier this year and continued to hinder him during the Davis Cup last month.

Alex de Minaur in ominous form ahead of Aus Open

"It's definitely the best I felt since Wimbledon," de Minaur said after the match. "Very happy with how the body's moving, how it's feeling. It's been a long time coming but it's feeling the best shape it has been in a very, very long time." De Minaur's clinical display bodes well for his hopes of going on a deep run at the Australian Open, where he'll be hoping to reach at least the quarter-finals of his home slam for the first time in his career.

"I was extremely pleased with my level (of performance). Being the first match of the new season, you never know what to expect," de Minaur said. "Tommy, he's a quality opponent, a very tough opponent, so I was happy in the way I executed today from the very start until the end. It's a very special court and a court that I love playing on, so I was very happy to be able to play the match today."

"Alex, I thought, played fantastic tennis tonight," Australia's captain Lleyton Hewitt said about De Minaur after his straight-sets win. "He was very confident out there, right from the word go, played his Plan A out there, and executed incredibly well. He played a faultless match, really."

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Hewitt would have hoped Olympic doubles gold medallist Ebden could combine with Perez to finish off the job in the mixed doubles but the pair went down to Etcheverry and Maria Carle 6-2 6-4. Hewitt can take comfort from the fact that Australia also suffered a first-round loss last year before scraping their way to the quarter-finals.

Alex de Minaur set to go up against fiancee Katie Boulter

In order to qualify for the knockout stage of the competition, the Aussies will need to get past Great Britain on New Year's Day in a tie that pits De Minaur against his fiancee Katie Boulter. The tennis glamour couple only recently announced their engagement in news that left the tennis world thrilled and adds another intriguing element to the rivalry between Australia and Great Britain.

Hewitt is confident his team has what it takes to topple the Brits, who have been rocked by the injury withdrawal of their No.1 male Jack Draper, whose place will be taken by World No.125 Billy Harris. But it's the showdown between De Minaur and his fiancee Boulter that all eyes will be on, and whether they square off against one another in the mixed doubles.

Hewitt is likely to stick with doubles specialist Ebden which would certainly suit Boulter, who revealed she did not want to play against her future husband. “On a personal level, on a tennis level, on every level I would much rather play someone else," she said. "But of course, I will still try and do my best and hopefully get one up on him on something. So, yeah, I’m relying on the team for this one.

“We need a win. I’m not taking anything else other than that. So, yeah, it will be interesting to see what happens out there, but I don’t know if he’ll play mixed. I don’t know if I’ll play mixed. I think there are a lot of unknowns at the moment.”

with AAP