Playing his best tennis while competing for his nation, Jason Kubler claims a morale-boosting win over higher-ranked Dan Evans at the United Cup.
Sydney, Australia , 30 December 2022 | AAP
Jason Kubler’s come-from-behind 6-3 7-6 (3) defeat of highly fancied Dan Evans has given Australia something to cheer about after dropping their opening tie of the United Cup to Great Britain.
Alex de Minaur, Zoe Hives and Maddison Inglis each lost to their British rivals, the latter after being called in as a last-minute injury replacement for Ajla Tomljanovic.
While the best-of-five tie could not be salvaged, world No.107 Kubler put up a significant fight at the new mixed-gender team tournament by coming from 5-0 down in the second set to score his own straight-sets win over the world No.27.
What a win for Jason Kubler💪
From 0-5 down in the second set, the Aussie roars back to claim a 6-3 7-6(3) win over Dan Evans at the United Cup. #GoAussies pic.twitter.com/TLotoLcXkp
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) December 30, 2022
Kubler punched well above his weight to score an early break over Evans and took the first set 6-3.
But Evans, who had defeated Kubler in both previous meetings, wasted little time bringing the Australian back to earth with a flurry of activity early in the second set.
The veteran Englishman broke Kubler at the first chance and was in striking distance of claiming the set with a second break that had him up 5-0.
But the plucky Australian refused to lie down and was the first local to truly weaponise the crowd at the home tournament so far.
Kubler broke back twice at Ken Rosewall Arena and on his way to drawing level at 5-5, the chair umpire needed to remind the crowd more than once to temper its excitement.
Evans, himself a rambunctious character, was visibly rattled.
The Australian scrapped his way to a tiebreak on the back of his work ethic on court and once there, was never truly troubled by Evans.
He had three match points at 6-3 and made good on the first one to prevent a whitewash in the tie at 3-1.
Courtside with Kubler 👏🔊
Listen to that ROAR for a stunning green and golden performance 🇦🇺#UnitedCup | @TennisAustralia pic.twitter.com/GEIMBZ6iPF
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) December 30, 2022
Earlier, Inglis was called in as an injury replacement after a knee injury forced Ajla Tomljanovic’s withdrawal.
Suffering a stomach bug, the world No.180-ranked Inglis had been bed-ridden…
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