Australia last won a team event in 2016. Lleyton Hewitt is out to change that
By Billie Eder
It is almost a decade since Australia last won a team tennis tournament.
Daria Saville and Nick Kyrgios were the last to do it, with a victory at the 2016 Hopman Cup, but since then, the trophy cabinet has been gathering cobwebs.
Team Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt ahead of the 2025 United Cup.Credit: Edwina Pickles
The barren streak is particularly painful for Lleyton Hewitt, who was part of the Australian Davis Cup team that lifted the trophy in 1999 and 2003 and captained Australia when they fell agonisingly short in the 2022 and 2023 Davis Cup finals.
Hewitt led Australia to the semi-finals at last year’s United Cup and returns as captain for the 2024-25 edition desperate to help break the drought.
“We’ve come bloody close. Thanks for bringing it up,” Hewitt said when asked about Australia’s barren run. “The biggest thing is we keep knocking on the door. You’ve got to do all the right preparation and give yourself the best chance of going out there and putting your hand up to try and win these kinds of events.
“I’ve been awfully proud of the teams that I’ve captained the last nine or ten years now right across the board, and we have come bloody close, but it’s not an easy thing to do. You look at some of these teams that end up winning these team competitions, and they’ve got some pretty awesome players, some generational great or legends of the game.”
Alex de Minaur and fiancé Katie Boulter in Sydney ahead of the United Cup.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Australia kick off their campaign against Argentina on Saturday in Sydney, with Olivia Gadecki taking on Nadia Podoroska before world No.9 Alex de Minaur plays Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Their second group stage opponent is Great Britain on January 1, a match-up that could pit de Minaur against fiancée Katie Boulter in the mixed doubles. The duo announced their engagement on December 23 after arriving in Australia.
However, the more likely scenario is that Australia’s specialist pairing of Ellen Perez and Matt Ebden – the latter of whom won gold in the men’s doubles at the Paris Olympics – will contest the mixed doubles rubber.
De Minaur enjoyed the best year of his career in 2024 after kick-starting his campaign at the United Cup with wins over Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic, and said he was eager to kick off his 2025 in similar fashion in his home town.
“It’s no secret it’s one of my favourite courts to play on [Ken Rosewall Arena], and it probably has to do with me growing up, training here at Homebush,” de Minaur said.
“Watching at that stage the Apia International, watching the matches, the players playing on that court and wishing to be able to compete on that court one day.
“And I’ve had some great memories here. It’s been some very good matches where I’ve gotten up, and I’ve played some of my best tennis, so it’s just playing at home.”
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