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Australia through to ATP Cup semi-finals

By WWOS staff

Results: ATP Cup quarter-finals day 7


Welcome to Wide World of Sports' live coverage of day seven of the ATP Cup, featuring two quarter-finals; plus other tennis results including Ashleigh Barty's Brisbane International opener. Watch all the action live on Nine and Gem, and by clicking here for 9NOW - live streaming every ATP Cup match!


Quarter-final 1, from 10am AEDT: Australia 2 def Great Britain 1

*Nick Kyrgios def Cameron Norrie 6-2 6-2

*Daniel Evans def Alex de Minaur 7-6 4-6 7-6

*Nick Kygios and Alex de Minaur def Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury 3-6 6-3 7-6 (19-17)

Quarter-final 2, from 5.30pm AEDT: Russia 3 def Argentina 0

*Karen Khachanov def Guido Pella 6-2 7-6

*Daniil Medvedev def Diego Schwartzman 6-4 4-6 6-3.

*Teymuraz Gabashvili and Konstantin Kravchuk def Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 7-6 6-4

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Big day for Australia

Australia have roared into the ATP Cup semi-finals with a rollicking doubles win from shock first-time pairing Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios.

In a daring selection gamble, Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt replaced doubles specialists John Peers and Chris Guccione with his two singles spearheads after an inspired Dan Evans levelled the tie for Great Britain with an epic victory over de Minaur.

But a lion-hearted de Minaur rebounded from his three-hour, 22-minute singles loss to pull off a rousing 3-6 6-3 18-16 triumph with Kyrgios over two-times grand slam doubles champion Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury.

"It was a tough one," Hewitt said of rolling the dice on the pairing and in particular playing de Minaur after his singles loss.

"He's (de Minaur) a hell of a doubles player when he actually plays; he doesn't play that much.

"We threw out a bit of firepower and it ended up paying off - just."

The thrilling triumph, after saving four match points in the super-tiebreak, almost raised the roof at the new-look Ken Rosewall Arena and fired Australia into a semi-final showdown on Saturday night with Rafael Nadal's Spanish Davis Cup champions or Canada.

Staring down their fourth match point, de Minaur and Kyrgios each rifled spectacular backhand return winners before Kyrgios closed out the contest with an undeliverable serve.

A jubilant Kyrgios carried de Minaur off court to celebrate with the Australia's courtside box.

Known for his own meltdowns, Kyrgios said he turned the tables and played the role of motivator for de Minaur during the match.

"He just needed a bit of guidance that's all," Kyrgios said after de Minaur mentioned he was carried by his partner.

"Of course (I'm the calm head). My past record says I am.

"He just gets pretty down on himself and I try to keep him positive."

Revelling in the team environment, Kyrgios had given Australia a flying start with an emphatic 6-2 6-2 win over Cameron Norrie in Thursday's opening match before Evans denied de Minaur 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (7-2) in the match of the tournament.

But few could have predicted the drama to follow with de Minaur and Kyrgios never having paired up before.

Despite their proven singles prowess, neither are doubles mugs.

De Minaur played 11 doubles tournaments last year.

He partnered Peers to knock off Jack Sock and Leander Paes, both multiple grand slam doubles champions, as well as the top-ranked pairing of Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal to make the semi-finals in Washington.

Kyrgios also contested 11 doubles events in 2019, his most notable win a victory with Sock over Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

But Thursday's win was another level, given the high stakes and massive $22 million prize money on offer at the inaugural ATP Cup.

Russia through to the semi-finals

Firebrand Russian Daniil Medvedev has survived a mid-match meltdown - where he struck the umpire's chair twice - to win his ATP Cup clash and help his country through to the semi-finals.

Medvedev initially verbally clashed with Argentine opponent Diego Schwartzman after being broken for the first time in the match during the second set.

But the world No.5 was only just warming up.

Approaching chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani, a furious Medvedev wanted to know whether he'd been given a warning for the incident.

Apparently he had been - for unsportsmanlike conduct - but that was quickly followed by a point penalty as the 23-year-old bashed his racquet twice against the chair in scenes rarely witnessed in a tennis match.

The composed Lahyani, who in 2018 received a two-tournament suspension for his US Open pep talk with Nick Kyrgios in which he said he wanted to "help him", cooly handed down the penalty to Medvedev

The Russian, who had won the first set, went on to lose the second before eventually prevailing 6-4 4-6 6-3.

Last year's ATP tour leader for wins (59) and US Open runner-up, Medvedev is now 4-0 for singles at the event.

Earlier, world No.17 Karen Khachanov eased past Guido Pella 6-2 7-6 (7-4) to give Russia the perfect start to the tie.

Khachanov is also 4-0 in singles for the competition, and with Medvedev firing looks to have Russia a real chance of claiming the inaugural title.

As the Russian No.2 he won't come up against Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal in Sydney unless Medvedev is withdrawn from a match but says it was important to believe he could beat the best, particularly ahead of the Australian Open.

"I think obviously to succeed in slams especially and in big tournaments you have to believe in this way," he said.

"Otherwise it will be tough to beat top guys."

Russia will play the winner of Friday's quarter-final between Serbia and Canada in the semi-finals.

Daniil Medvedev loses it

Daniil Medvedev has let his emotions get the better of him, bashing the umpire's chair in a bizarre meltdown in his match against Diego Schwartzman at the ATP Cup.

The Russian star was handed a point penalty for hitting the chair with his racquet during the second set after umpire Mohamed Lahyani warned him over a previous confrontation with his opponent.

Verbal altercation

A verbal altercation has occurred between Daniil Medvedev and Diego Schwartzman.

After Medvedev took out the opening set 6-4, the two stars exchanged words as they walked off the court.

The chair umpire was forced to intervene, separating Medvedev and Schwartzman.

The two stars were told to walk their separate ways from the umpire.

After the altercation, Team Russia were handed an unsportsmanlike code violation

Khachanov wins

Karen Khachanov proved too much in the end for Guido Pella, taking out their ATP Cup match in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(4).

For Khachanov, he's yet to drop a match in all his singles encounters at the ATP Cup, improving to 4-0.

Medvedev will now look to push Russia into the semi-finals in his match Diego Schwartzman.

Guido Pella in tears

Guido Pella has been reduced to tears during his ATP Cup match with Karen Khachanov.

Cameras picked up the moment the Argentinian star appeared very deflated.

The world No. 25 struggled in the opening set, allowing Khachanov to convert three times on break points.

Earlier in the first set, Pella furiously destroyed his racquet when things weren't going his way.

MATCH: Kyrgios clinches it for Australia

A huge second serve from Nick Kyrgios has sealed the tie for Australia in an absolute thriller. Great Britain challenged the call after Kyrgios' serve caught the line but to no avail. That was sporting theatre that you had to see to believe and the crowd is going absolutely nuts!


Nick Kyrgios had the chance to serve it out but the Aussies blew it with Alex de Minaur netting his volley.

Salisbury held his two serves to give Great Britain a chance on de Minaur's serve but the Aussie held strong. This is turning into one of the greatest doubles matches you'll see!


Both Australia and Great Britain have saved two match points, with Jamie Murray squandering the best chance to win the match with a shocking miss when he had an easy volley to put away.


Australia have given away their advantage but Nick Kyrgios has one serve to come and can set up a match point if he holds.