By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday January 4, 2019
Nick Kyrgios wasn’t ready to go due to a back injury but Australia had an ace in the hole to take his place.
Brisbane’s own John Millman filled in for Kyrgios and put forth a dominant display against Felix Auger-Aliassime to give Australia the lead and Alex de Minaur followed up with a thrilling victory over Denis Shapovalov to clinch victory for the Aussies on Sunday at Pat Rafter Arena.
Millman took control after surrendering an early break against Auger-Aliassime and his steady and consistent play enabled him to cruise to victory against the 20-year-old without too much fuss. Millman took 11 of the final 14 games as Auger-Aliassime’s error count piled up.
In the second match Shapovalov raced out to a set and 4-2 lead on De Minaur but he could not hang on against the relentless pressure of the World No.18.
De Minaur took the final four games of the second set to level and wound up claiming 10 of the final 12 games against Shapovalov.
It was a thrilling encounter that featured plenty of showstopping tennis from both players.
“I managed to turn things around, get back into a positive mindset, get my energy back,” De Minaur said. “I think it's all energy. It's good that in the back of my head I know that all the hard work I've put in in the pre-season, so I know that my body's ready to keep on going for however long it takes.”
De Minaur saved 14 of 16 break points and claimed the hard-fought victory in three hours. Shapovalov kept fighting but couldn't find enough ways to get winners past the speedy Aussie.
The Aussies finished the sweep with a doubles victory by Chris Guccione and John Peers, 3-6 7-6(3) 10-8. They move to 2-0 in Group F standings while Canada drops to 1-1.
Australia will face Greece in its final Group encounter on Tuesday in Brisbane, while Canada will face Germany.