Cameron Norrie and Katie Swan clinched victories in straight sets to give Great Britain a 2-0 advantage over Australia in Group D of the inaugural United Cup here at Perth on Thursday.
World No 14 Norrie started the match by defeating Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-3, while No 145 Swan increased Team GB's lead by defeating Zoe Hives 6-4, 6-3.
Norrie tried his best to calm the Australian fans in front of a boisterous night session audience in Sydney by consistently hitting his flat backhand with depth to keep De Minaur stuck behind the baseline for most of their 90-minute match.
"I am feeling great. First match of the year there is a lot of nerve. It is a tough task to play Demon in Australia on this court, with him playing at home. He loves playing here and it was not easy. I ran a lot, absolutely drenched three shirts. A lot of running and it was humid in there. I enjoyed the atmosphere and it was nice to get the win as well," said Norrie as quoted by atptour.com.
The 27-year-old crucially rallied from 1-1, 0-40 on serve in the first set, building momentum from that point on to take control of the match. He won 87% (26/31) of his first-serve points. In the second set, Norrie got a break and won most of the lung-busting rallies to win.
With the victory, Norrie evened his head-to-head record against De Minaur at 1-1 after falling to him in their previous meeting in Barcelona last season.
Swan maintained her excellent form to record the 15th victory in her last 17 games with a 1-0 lead. Swan quickly built a 4-1 lead in the first set against World No. 772 Hives before fending off an incredible comeback from the Australian.
Hives unexpectedly surged out to a 3-0 lead in the second set before Swan's greater consistency started a six-game run to seal the victory.
With a victory on Friday, Great Britain can potentially win the match when Harriet Dart plays Ajla Tomljanovic, she has a chance to break the tie. Jason Kubler and Daniel Evans will square off in the last singles encounter.
18 nations will compete in the new mixed-teams competition known as the United Cup in Brisbane, Perth, and Sydney. Ties will consist of one mixed doubles match, two ATP singles matches, and two WTA singles matches, and will be played over a period of two days.
( With inputs from ANI )
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