Alex de Minaur was down 30-40, locked at 2-2 in the second set having already lost the first. He really, really needed a cheap point. To keep Australia in with a chance of making the United Cup final. To keep himself in with a chance at becoming a top-10 player by Monday.

De Minaur beats Zverev to crack top 10 but Australia out of United Cup

He pumped his next serve down to Alexander Zverev and the German, stretching for his return, caught the ball on the frame of his racquet. The graphite popped it high into the air, leaving Zverev with nothing to do but wait for it to come back down and then watch as members of the crowd fell over each other to catch it.

The resulting deuce was the first of six in this game, an 11-minute mini-marathon inside the full distance that was this three-set feather in de Minaur’s cap. It is a nice cap – a clean white ASICS visa that gives off slightly preppy vibes and pairs well with the squeak of his shoes. There was a lot of chanting and cheering inside Ken Roswell Arena on Saturday night – Rebel Wilson was chief among them from her seat behind the Team Australia box – but nothing compared to the chorus of squeaks emanating from de Minaur’s bright red shoes.

The 24-year-old keeps several spare pairs of shoelaces on hand during matches, so often does the friction from all the sliding and scraping on hard courts bust the ones on his feet. Those feet are the busiest on tour. De Minaur is literally a speed Demon. But he also a bouncer and a pacer, and a walker with purpose.

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Against Zverev in their United Cup semi-final singles battle, those feet attacked the net and captured volleys in the air. After de Minaur held that critical service game to lead 3-2 – they forced the world No.7 off his A-game, snared a break to lead 5-3 and then served out the set. Then he broke Zverev in the opening game of the third and took that one, too.

The 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory offset Ajla Tomljanovic’s earlier three-set loss to Angelique Kerber and sent the semi-final tie to the mixed doubles, which Germany won to book their spot in the final against Poland.

Germany claimed the decisive encounter after Zverev and Laura Siegemund required a marathon 28-point match tiebreak to eventually edge Matt Ebden and world doubles No.1 Storm Hunter 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (2-7), 15-13.

Earlier, de Minaur thanked his home crowd for their support. “I love being back home, thank you guys,” the Spain-based Sydneysider said. “I’ve said it before, but every time I step out on court here it feels special. This is my favourite court in the whole world. I get goosebumps. I love being here and I’m very grateful for all the support.

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