Alex de Minaur in doubles! Australia battle past Czech Republic to reach United Cup QFs | ATP tour | Tennis

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De Minaur in the doubles! Australia battle past the Czech Republic to reach the United Cup QFs

Australia top Group D, Czech Republic also qualify for QFs as best runners-up in Sydney
January 6, 2026

Alex de Minaur once again carried the weight of the green and gold with distinction at the United Cup in Sydney on Tuesday evening, performing double duty to send Australia past the Czech Republic into the quarter-finals.

After Barbora Krejcikova dispatched Maya Joint in straight sets, Australia faced an uphill battle to qualify on home soil. But the 26-year-old De Minaur fed off the lively Ken Rosewall Arena atmosphere to beat Jakub Mensik 6-4, 6-1 before teaming with Storm Hunter to beat Miriam Skoch and Dalibor Svrcina 6-2, 6-3 to seal a 2-1 victory at the top of Group D.

With Krejcikova’s victory, the Czech Republic also advanced to the quarter-finals as best runners-up in Sydney.

“The atmosphere was incredible. Saturday night was incredible and tonight you delivered again,” Hunter said on court. “Demon brings energy, he’s under so much pressure. So I felt very comfortable and confident with him by my side.”

Mensik provided moments of flair against De Minaur early in the second set, culminating in a daring, forward tweener volley set up by a booming first serve. But the Australian remained ruthless and saved all four break points he faced on his way to improving his record to 5-0 against the Czech in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“I didn’t start the year the way I wanted,” said De Minaur, who fell to Casper Ruud in his first group match. “But something that I have done very well in my career is recovering, so I am happy that I bounced back today.”

Stop that right now Jakub 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/my03sGnbS5

— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 6, 2026

In women’s singles, Krejcikova continued her strong start to the 2026 season with a comprehensive 6-4, 6-1 win over Joint to give the Czech Republic an early lead.

The 30-year-old, WTA No. 63, after missing the first five months of the 2025 season, jumped to a 4-1 lead against Australian No. 1 Joint, who had missed her country’s opening match due to illness. Although Joint closed the gap to 4-3, Krejcikova held on to close the opening set 6-4 and ran away with the second.

“I am very happy with my performance,” said Krejcikova. “I’m happy with the way I played from start to finish. I’ve had great support too. It was a bit up and down in the first set, but I’m happy I got through it. I tried to be aggressive from the start and it’s nice to have some matches under my belt. I felt a little better on the court today.”