Jason Kubler’s golden summer continued in Sydney on Tuesday night after a second straight victory in the United Cup, leading Australia to a 3-2 win in their tie against Spain.
The new cult hero of Australian tennis, who last year made it to the fourth round of Wimbledon as a qualifier, played far better than his No.107 ranking would suggest, beating Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.
Kubler’s victories in this tournament have come against world No.27 Daniel Evans and world No.39 Ramos-Vinolas. It will catapult him up the rankings in the coming days. He is expected to reach a career-high ranking of 81st in the world. His previous best ranking was No.91 in 2018.
The Queenslander said he wasn’t bitter about his Wimbledon heroics counting for nothing in the rankings after the tournament was stripped of points for banning Russian and Belarusian athletes.
“If we take one person out of the tournament, then the draw is completely different,” he said.
“So if it was … I’m not going to say full strength, but if everyone did enter and was able to play, then my draw wouldn’t have been what it was. I would have played different people and then who knows what could happen.
Jason Kubler wins another singles match in Sydney at the United Cup.Credit:Getty
“I almost lost a couple of times in qualifying. I sort of just look back on it as a great experience, something that I’m going to remember for a long time, and hopefully just build off of it.”
Kubler wasn’t meant to play in the United Cup. He was Australia’s third-ranked player registered for the tournament behind Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur, but was thrown into the hot seat at short notice following Kyrgios’ withdrawal due to an ankle injury just 24 hours before the start of the competition.
The 29-year-old, who is dating fellow Australian tennis player Maddison Inglis, has won plenty of admirers with his performances over the past week.
“The feelings I have had on court are crazy,” Kubler said after the match. “I’m from Brisbane so I thought Sydney wouldn’t be the place [I’d get support]. It’s unbelievable. I couldn’t imagine anything like this.
“I’m honestly just grateful to represent Australia again. Last year I was lucky enough to play Davis Cup. I just jumped at the opportunity to play for Australia with these guys. We are such close friends and I love going to war with them.”
Unfortunately for Australia, Olivia Gadecki couldn’t get the job done against Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. It didn’t stop Australia from claiming a 3-2 win over Spain in the tie as Sam Stosur and John Peers cruised to victory in straight sets.
The result counted for little given Great Britain had already booked their passage into the Sydney city finals after finishing Group D undefeated.
Meanwhile, Matteo Berrettini defeated world No.3 Casper Ruud to book Italy’s spot in Brisbane’s United Cup city final.
The world No.16, who lost in the semi-finals of last year’s Australian Open to eventual champion Rafael Nadal, used his powerful serve to dominate the Norwegian in a 6-4, 6-4 win.
Berrettini hit 10 aces and won 88 per cent of points (35 of 40) when landing his first serve to move to 2-0 after his tournament-opening defeat of Brazilian Thiago Monteiro.
His victory in 86 minutes put Italy up 3-0 against Norway, which was good enough for top spot in their group with two matches remaining in their tie.
In Sydney, Jessica Pegula eased past Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the tie 3-0 in a dead rubber. The United States had already booked their city final berth against Team GB on Monday.
In Perth, Greece secured a city final when Maria Sakkari beat Elise Mertens to earn the final point they needed from the first of three chances in matches against Belgium.
The world No.6 won 6-1, 7-5, following Stefanos Tsitsipas’s impressive dismantling of David Goffin on Monday.
Tsitsipas says he is close to unlocking “zen mode” on the tennis court and is physically prepared to outlast the sport’s emerging stars to carve out another deep Australian Open run.
The Greek world No.4 has made the semi-finals in three of his past four Melbourne Park campaigns and started his season impressively in the United Cup in Perth.
“It is a very nice place to be in,” Tsitsipas said of his form against Goffin. “I wish I can be in that place more often.
“You cannot allow yourself to feel like God when you are on the court unless you’ve reached that, let’s say, the flow state, which has happened to me a few times last season.
“I hope it will happen this season, where you feel like everything just goes your way, there is no more thinking involved. It’s a very nice place to be … let’s call it zen mode that I’m seeking.”
Watch the United Cup live and free on the 9Network – Channel 9 and 9Gem. Every match will be available live on 9Now.
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