Alex De Minaur has grown fond of Britain through his relationship with girlfriend Katie Boulter but is gunning to lead Australia to victory in Davis Cup on Wednesday.
The likely match-up between world number 12 De Minaur and British number one Cameron Norrie at Manchester’s AO Arena could well be crucial in determining who gets off to the perfect start in this week’s group stage.
Born in Sydney, De Minaur has also spent a lot of his life in his mother’s home country of Spain, but his passion for Australia burns brightly, particularly when Britain are the opponents.
View this post on Instagram
“There’s years and years of history of rivalry between the two nations,” he told the PA news agency.
“With Katie, I’ve got to spend a little bit more time here in the UK and I’ve been able to get to know a couple of the Brits a little bit better.
“We always give each other a little bit of crap if our nation wins. It’s always a great competitive spirit between us.
“Katie’s shown me around. I’ve found a lot of spots that I quite enjoy so it’s been great, especially when the weather’s good. There’s a lot of similarities with Australia.
“A big thing for me is coffee. They love their coffee here as well, the breakfast places are kind of the same vibe. And one thing that I didn’t have growing up in Australia or Spain is the countryside. I’ve grown really fond of the greenery.”
De Minaur is Australia’s ace in the pack and arrives in Manchester in the best form of his career having reached his first ATP Masters final in Canada before making the fourth round of the US Open to climb to the brink of the top 10.
Among the 24-year-old’s victims in Toronto was Norrie, extending his run of victories against British players to eight from the last nine matches.
De Minaur played down the significance of that result, saying: “I think Davis Cup is completely different. Every time we play it’s been a battle, even when we practise it goes one way or the other.
View this post on Instagram
“It’s always going to be a toss up but I’m looking forward to the challenge and hopefully I can lift my level and play some good tennis.
“I’ve played some great tennis over the last couple of months and I’m really happy with where my level is at. It’s going to be a very good test this group stage, a lot of very good players. Hopefully I can bring it all together and perform.”
De Minaur is the highest-ranked player in Manchester but there are decisions to be made for both British captain Leon Smith and Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt over who joins him in the tie.
Norrie has struggled for the past few months and has a patchy Davis Cup record but it would be a surprise if he does not play, with Dan Evans, Andy Murray and 21-year-old Jack Draper also in contention.
Evans is favourite to partner Neal Skupski in doubles, where Australia have former Wimbledon champions in Matt Ebden and Max Purcell.
Purcell could well get the nod to play singles after shooting up the rankings this season from outside the top 200 to 43, while Jordan Thompson and Thanasi Kokkinakis are Hewitt’s other options in the absence of the injured Nick Kyrgios.
In Britain’s favour will be the home crowd. The event has been well-promoted and around 8,000 people are expected for Wednesday’s tie and Friday’s meeting with Switzerland, while Sunday’s clash against France has sold out and will be played in a front of more than 13,000 fans.
“It’s great, ultimately that’s what Davis Cup is about,” said De Minaur. “We’re going to play the Brits in front of their home crowd so rightfully they’ll have amazing crowd support and it should be a great environment. I’ll be very happy to be a part of it.”
View this post on Instagram
Australia certainly have reason to feel they are the favourites given the form of their players and their run last year, when they made it all the way to the final before losing to Canada.
Asked if they can go one further this time, De Minaur said: “That’s the dream. Last year gave us a lot of hunger and fire and desire to really be able to accomplish this as a team.
“I think we showed what a team can do when they have each other’s back because on ranking we weren’t supposed to be a contender. We came together and we showed what it meant to play for Australia.
“We’ll do everything we can to do that but it starts here, we’ve got a very tough group and we’ve got to try and get out of here alive.”
The top two teams from the group will move on to the finals week in Malaga in November.
Osaka beats Kostyuk for landmark win at Italian Open
Naomi Osaka recorded her first win over a top-20 opponent on clay at the Italian Open on Thursday, posting an impressive 6-3 6-2 victory against Marta Kostyuk to reach the third round.
Having opened her first Italian Open campaign since 2021 with a straight-sets win over Clara Burel on Wednesday, Osaka produced another slick performance to down the world number 20 one day later.
Osaka blitzed Kostyuk to take the opener in just 36 minutes, taking advantage of a sloppy start from the Ukrainian, who served at just 40 per cent in the first set and tallied 15 unforced errors.
The former world number one then forced a break within three games in the second set, only for rain to halt proceedings after she went 3-1 up.
She showed no signs of rustiness upon returning to the court, though, even responding to a late loss of serve with an immediate break back to tee up a third-round clash with 10th seed Daria Kasatkina.
Data Debrief: First for Osaka on least favourite surface
Osaka has never considered herself a clay-court specialist, failing to reach a single tour-level final on the surface throughout her career.
Ahead of Thursday's match, she was 0-8 on clay against opponents in the top 20 of the WTA rankings. However, a routine victory should give her hope of repeating the feat against Kasatkina next time out.
Nadal fights back to win opener in Rome
Rafael Nadal fought back from a slow start to defeat Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in his opening match at the Italian Open.
Nadal endured a poor first set, losing five of the last six games, but turned things around in impressive style, spending two hours and 47 minutes on the court on Thursday.
The 10-time Italian Open champion saved all five break points he faced in the second and third sets to take key points and earn a seventh win of the season.
Nadal is competing in his third consecutive tour-level event after missing most of last year due to a hip injury that required surgery before his comeback was halted by a muscle tear in January.
"That was not my best match, I was practising better than I played today, but I found a way to win," he said after the match.
"That’s so important at the beginning of the tournament. My game is more unpredictable than before. I didn’t play much tennis for the last two years, so have some ups and downs, on and off, but I think I can do much better than today and I hope to do it next round."
The Spaniard will face seventh-seeded Hubert Hurkacz in the second round.
Data Debrief:
Nadal had only lost one of his previous 18 opening-round matches in Rome before Thursday and avoided adding to that tally in his final appearance at the tournament.
He has the most wins at the Foro Italico (70), where he first claimed the title on his debut in 2005.
Osaka makes winning return at Italian Open
Naomi Osaka claimed a straight sets victory over Clara Burel in the first round of the Italian Open.
Making her first appearance in Rome since 2021, former world number one Osaka prevailed 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 on Wednesday, marking her first win over a top-50 opponent on clay since she defeated Victoria Azarenka at Roland Garros in 2019.
Osaka, who is now ranked 173rd in the world by the WTA, will face Marta Kostyuk in the second round.
She previously faced Kostyuk in the 2020 US Open, en route to winning her third major title.
Data Debrief: Back with a bang
Osaka reached the quarter-finals of the Italian Open in 2019, but did not win a game in 2021 and has not appeared at any other edition since then.
That means the 26-year-old won her first match at the event since she beat Mihaela Buzarnescu in 2019 (1,819 days ago). She wrapped up the win in one hour and 24 minutes, finishing with 27 winners, including eight aces.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
