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Singles star Alex de Minaur has saluted the unsung heroics of doubles luminaries Storm Hunter and Matt Ebden in Australia's push for United Cup glory.
Alex de Minaur has hailed unsung heroes Storm Hunter and Matt Ebden for presenting Australia with the chance to complete a remarkable against-the-odds United Cup triumph for the host nation.
While de Minaur has understandably captured the headlines and drawn the plaudits for his inspired wins over world No.1 Novak Djokovic and 10th-ranked Taylor Fritz, the singles spearhead knows full well Team Australia wouldn't be in Saturday night's semi-finals without Hunter and Ebden.
Hunter, the women's top-ranked doubles exponent, and 2022 Wimbledon men's doubles champ Ebden are the only Australians still unbeaten in three ties of the $15 million teams' event.
Had the dynamic duo lost any of their three mixed doubles rubbers, Australia would have been eliminated by now, instead of preparing for a showdown with Germany for a spot in Sunday's final.
De Minaur and Ajla Tomljanovic both lost their singles matches in Australia's opening tie against Great Britain before Tomljanovic's defeat to world No.5 Jessica Pegula again put the hosts in peril against defending champions the USA.
Hunter and Ebden came to the rescue on both occasions.
"We got saved by Matty and Storm on day one," de Minaur said.
"We were not looking too good. We needed something in that mixed doubles to get us back on track and to give us some sort of chance.
"And when we needed them, they stepped up, played some incredible tennis and they got us here.
"Obviously the goal was to make it to Sydney and we're all very happy to be here.
"It's been great and hopefully we can keep it going."
To do so, Hunter and Ebden will likely again need to come to the party.
And world No.12 de Minaur or three-time grand slam quarter-finalist Tomljanovic must also conjure up something special to give the doubles pair a chance to do their thing.
De Minaur will enter his clash with Alexander Zverev having lost six of his previous seven career encounters with the Olympic champion, while Tomljanovic will also be the underdog against three-time grand slam champion and former world No.1 Angelique Kerber.
But Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt reckons the past won't count for anything at de Minaur's beloved Ken Rosewall Arena on Saturday night.
"He'd never beaten Novak before either, so we're looking forward to changing that one, too," Hewitt said.
Zverev knows the crowd will be against his team but insists the Germans are ready for the fight.
"The four best teams are in the semis and there's obviously no easy draws anymore," he said.
"Obviously, Australia beating Serbia, I think Alex beating Novak was an outstanding performance by him.
"So I'll definitely have a very tough one tomorrow, but I think the whole team will have and hopefully we can get a win and go to the finals."
Top seeds Poland, led by women's world No.1 Iga Swaitek, play France in Saturday's first semi-final at KRA.
