United Cup hosts Australia suffered a setback when their top-ranked female player, Maya Joint, was sidelined by illness and was unable to play against Norway in the opening Group D match in Sydney on Saturday.
This is quite emotional for me. It’s been a tough two years, during which I tore my Achilles tendon, found my way back and learned everything again. I never thought I would be on this court again in a singles match for Australia. Storm Chaser
The 19-year-old world number 32 was ordered to rest on Friday after missing Australia’s scheduled media and practice sessions, and was unable to take her place in Saturday’s night match against 26-year-old Malene Helgo.
Captain Leyton Hewitt told reporters: “Hopefully it’s only a matter of 24 hours and she can come back tomorrow.”
Hewitt said Joint, who switched allegiance from the United States to Australia in 2023, performed well on the practice range on Thursday.
“As far as confidence goes, I don’t think myself and her team are too concerned about the way she hits the ball, moves and plays right now. We’re just trying to give her the best opportunity to have 100 percent energy when she goes out there to play.”
“Fingers crossed she gets the chance. If not, we’ll reevaluate.”
With Joint unavailable, Hewitt opted to use Storm Hunter, who returned to the league last season at the age of 31 after missing almost a year between March 2024 and March 2025 due to an Achilles tendon injury that required surgery.
© Jason McCawley/Getty Images
The experienced left-hander came into action at the last minute for Australia’s number 1 and made a fast start against 26-year-old Helgo, who is participating in the United Cup for the fourth time.
Hunter broke serve twice in the opening set to take the score 6-2 against the 532nd-ranked Norwegian, who then raced to a 4-1 lead in the second set before the former Australian No. 1 doubles player and a Grand Slam mixed doubles champion rallied to level the set at 5-5.
Helgo saved three break points in a crucial eleventh game to maintain a 6-5 lead, but Hunter held serve to force a tiebreak, which the Australian dominated and sealed a memorable 6-2 7-6(3) victory.
“This is pretty emotional for me,” Hunter said during her post-match interview. “It’s been a tough two years, tearing my Achilles tendon, finding my way back and learning everything again. I never thought I would be back on this court in a singles match for Australia.”
“This was clearly Maya’s moment. Maya had a great year. Too bad she couldn’t come out tonight. I know she’s so excited to come and play in front of everyone. Hopefully she gets a chance on Tuesday. But I’m just happy I was able to get the win for the team.”
Norwegian Casper Ruud (L) defeated Australian Alex de Minaur in straight sets to level the score at 1-1 on Saturday
© Izhar Khan/AFP via Getty Images
Casper Ruud made a big statement in the second leg of the tie, when he powered past home player Alex de Minaur, 6-3 6-3, in an hour and 34 minutes to level the tie, 1-1, and put in a solid performance to keep Norway in the running.
“I’m happy that I made a good start,” Ruud said in his on-track interview. “Beating Alex here in Australia is one of the toughest challenges we face in tennis, so I’m super happy to have that on my CV now.”
Ruud played aggressively and decisively, preventing De Minaur from finding a rhythm.
The former world No. 2 player saved all five break points he faced and consistently put pressure on the Australian’s serve, earning 10 break chances of his own and converting three.
“It’s a great start to a new season,” said Ruud. “I think we all saw Alex in better shape than he was today. He made a few unforced errors that he normally doesn’t do, so I got some free points here and there. You could see early on that he was struggling with his serve, so I got a free break and just built from there.”
Team Australia lines up for the national anthems ahead of their Group D match against Team Norway during the United Cup at the Ken Rosewall Arena on Saturday in Sydney, Australia
© Jason McCawley/Getty Images
It all came down to the decisive mixed doubles match, which saw Australia survive a tough test into the early hours of Sunday morning at the Ken Rosewall Arena.
June and John-Patrick Smith got past Viktor Durasovic and Ulrikke Eikeri, 4-6 6-1 [10-4]to secure Australia’s 2-1 win against Norway in Group D, where they will also face the Czech Republic.
“I’ll tell you what, Storm set it up big there…I was just on the field, I was in it,” Smith said later. “She came back well, she moved well. She had really good control on all her shots. It was a great win and a great comeback too. It’s never easy playing against a good team.”
In the first set the Norwegians swung freely to put pressure on the Australians, but Hunter & Smith started stronger in the second and never looked back.
“I think we just got a little bit more aggressive and just wanted to play on our terms and brought the energy a little bit more,” Hunter reflected. “We went after it and in mixed doubles anything can happen. We had a few chances in the first set, but we didn’t quite get them, so in the second we were able to convert them.”
For a place in the quarter-finals, Australia must take care of business against the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
Team Norway (L-R): Viktor Durasovic, Astrid Brune Olsen, Casper Ruud, Malene Hello, Christian Ruud and Ulrikke Eikeri pose for a photo after their press conference ahead of the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney on Friday
© Izhar Khan/AFP via Getty Images
#Sydney #Australia #beats #Norway #Group #United #Cup #match