Australian Alex de Minaur secured a late-night victory in the United Cup semi-finals on Saturday, staging a comeback against two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev of Germany.
De Minaur triumphed 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in a match that lasted two hours and 40 minutes, forcing a deciding mixed doubles.
The Australia-Germany semi-final will now proceed to a deciding mixed doubles, with the victor advancing to Sunday’s championship match against Poland, which had earlier swept France 3-0 on the same day.
De Minaur expressed his joy of playing at home and thanked his home crowd for backing him throughout the match.
“I love being back home. Thank you guys! I’ve said it before, but every time I step out on court here, it feels special. This is my favourite court in the whole world, and every time I step out here, I get goosebumps. I love being here, and I’m very grateful for all the support," he said.
De Minaur achieved his third consecutive win against a Top 10 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, having previously defeated American Taylor Fritz and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
Following his victory over World No. 7 Zverev, De Minaur is set to break into the Top 10 himself for the first time on Monday, becoming the first Australian to do so since United Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt in July 2006.
In response to this achievement, De Minaur remarked, "It’s what I’ve worked so hard for. It’s another milestone. But the job’s not done. I’m going to enjoy this Aussie summer, that’s for sure."
Earlier, recorded arguably the biggest and most astonishing win of his career by stunning Novak Djokovic in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 at the United Cup in Perth on Wednesday.
De Minaur broke Djokovic’s whopping 43-match winning streak in Australia and he couldn’t be more happy.
That was Djokovic’s first loss in Australia since 2018 when he lost to Hyeon Chung at the 2018 Australian Open.
