Two Kooyong Foundation beneficiaries played starring roles in Australia’s United Cup campaign in Sydney ahead of this month’s Australian Open.
By Marc McGowan
Two Kooyong Foundation beneficiaries played starring roles in Australia’s United Cup campaign in Sydney ahead of this month’s Australian Open.
Jason Kubler, who replaced the injured Nick Kyrgios in Australia’s squad, and John Peers were unbeaten at the inaugural event in singles and mixed doubles, respectively.
Kubler was once the world’s best junior and the Foundation helped kick-start him as he went on to contest all four grand slams and be ranked inside the world’s top 100.
The 29-year-old beat Great Britain’s Dan Evans and Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas at the United Cup and is set to rise to a career-high ranking of No.86 on Monday.
Kubler received an Australian Open singles wildcard before Christmas and will play in the main draw at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2019.
“It’s unbelievable for me to have two of my best wins here in Australia,” he said. “But also, off the court, it's been special. I got to hang out with all the Australians [and] got even closer with some of the people I didn't know as well.”
Peers, whose family are Kooyong royalty, partnered Australia’s co-captain Sam Stosur to two victories but the host nation was unable to qualify for the Semi Finals.
Stosur took part in the Kooyong Foundation’s Pro Am event for the second straight year in December.
Attention now turns to next week’s Australian Open qualifying tournament, where two other foundation players, Marc Polmans and Omar Jasika, are in the men’s draw.
Destanee Aiava, who also previously gained support from the Foundation, is trying to make it through on the women’s side and play in the main draw for a fifth time.
Polmans, 25, is on the comeback trail from an ankle injury that required surgery and cost him six months off the tour last year.
A strong end to the season at Challenger level, including making a final in Sydney, helped him climb to No.334 in the rankings after dipping as low as No.787 when he was injured.
The man in the legionnaires hat was as high as 116 in the world barely two years ago before a difficult patch.
Polmans started this year by reaching the Canberra International Quarter Finals, where he extended eventual titlist and world No.87 Marton Fucsovics to three tight sets.
“I’m keen to try to have a good crack at the qualifying,” Polmans said. “I didn't just get one match last week [in Canberra] - I got three good ones, and I feel match hardened, so I’d like to get through.”
Jasika, also 25, returned to the tour last year after a long absence with great success, going from unranked to his current best ranking of No.228.
There are 29 Australians in total competing in qualifying, which runs from Monday to Thursday at Melbourne Park.
Players must win three matches to reach the main draw.
