Live: Aussies out of United Cup contention but still a chance of beating Brits

It was always going to be a tall order, but Australia’s Maya Joint has bravely gone down in three sets to former world number one Victoria Azarenka.

Joint, 18, won the first set but Azarenka called upon her vast experience to claw her way back to win 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-4.

Even though the mixed doubles rubber is in progress, it’s now impossible for Australia to reach the quarterfinals.

Alex de Minaur and Olivia Gadecki had to win in straight sets and concede no more than four games against British duo Charles Broom and Olivia Nicholls.

This would have allowed Australia to advance to the last eight as the best of the runner-up teams.

Despite Australia winning the first set 6-3, it’s now 2-2 in the second.

Great Britain will play Poland in the Sydney quarterfinals, while Czechia will meet Italy.

Australia has won the opening set of the mixed doubles against Great Britain, but they still have an uphill battle to reach the quarterfinals.

Alex de Minaur and Olivia Gadecki claimed the set 6-3, however they can only afford to drop one more game if they are to progress to the last eight as the highest-ranked runner-up among the teams in Sydney.

Great Britain automatically advanced after Katie Boulter won her singles match against Gadecki in straight sets.

Australia is serving for the first set at 5-3 after breaking their British opponents in the eighth game.

Olivia Nicholls dropped her serve, giving Alex de Minaur the chance to close out the set for the Aussies.

Coco Gauff has established a 1-0 lead for the US in its quarterfinal against China in Perth.

Gauff won 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 against Zhang Shuai in the opening singles match.

Australia and Great Britain have both made nervous starts to the mixed doubles rubber after service breaks were exchanged.

It’s 2-2 in the first set.

ICYMI, Australia has drafted in Alex de Minaur and Olivia Gadecki for the mixed doubles.

Olivia Nicholls is partnering Charles Broom for Great Britain.

Victoria Azarenka’s experience is coming to the fore, as she claims the second set against Australian teenager Maya Joint.

Joint won the first set in a tie-breaker, but Azarenka rebounded to win the second 6-2.

Although Joint broke Azarenka in the second set, the two-time Australian Open champion secured three service breaks on her way to levelling the match.

The Aussies have made a late change to their mixed doubles line-up.

Alex de Minaur will team up with Olivia Gadecki after Matt Ebden and Ellen Perez were initially listed on the team sheet.

The Brits have also made a change with Olivia Nicholls replacing Katie Boulter.

Nicholls will partner Charles Broom.

The switch made by Great Britain means de Minaur and Boulter won’t have to face each other on opposing sides of the net.

De Minaur and Boulter announced their engagement just prior to Christmas.

Australian 18-year-old Maya Joint is meeting the challenge of playing Victoria Azarenka with relish.

Joint won the first set of the round-of-32 match in a tie-breaker (7/5).

She and Azarenka have traded breaks early in the second set.

Alex de Minaur has made sure the mixed doubles is a live rubber with a resounding straight-sets win over Billy Harris.

De Minaur broke the Briton for a fifth time to complete a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

The Aussies are still a chance of reaching the quarterfinals, but it will come down to the mixed doubles.

With a hometown crowd cheering him on, Alex De Minaur has gained a double break in the second set to lead 4-1 against Billy Harris.

A de Minaur win will see Australia level the tie against Great Britain at 1-1.

Alex de Minaur is moving closer to victory in his singles match against Billy Harris.

Some breathtaking court coverage saw the Aussie win his most recent service game after he broke Harris at the beginning of the second set.

De Minaur, the world number nine, leads 2-0 in the second set after winning the first 6-2.

It’s still early days, but Aussie young gun Maya Joint is getting on top of Victoria Azarenka in Brisbane.

While Joint was broken by Azarenka, she has grabbed two service breaks against the two-time Australian Open champion to lead 4-2 in the first set.

Alex de Minaur serves to love to see out the first set in 38 minutes.

De Minaur won the set 6-2, having twice broken Billy Harris’s serve.

Alex de Minaur will serve for the first set at 5-2 against Great Britain’s Billy Harris.

The Aussie broke Harris’s serve for the second time in the seventh game.

Alex de Minaur is getting on top of Billy Harris in their singles rubber in Sydney.

The Australian men’s number one broke his British opponent in the fifth game of the first set to establish a 3-2 lead.

De Minaur’s partner Katie Boulter had earlier put Great Britain 1-0 ahead following her victory over Olivia Gadecki.

Great Britain has automatically advanced to the quarterfinals, courtesy of Boulter’s straight-sets win, but Australia is still a chance of reaching the knockout stage.

Alex de Minaur has relaxed the nerves to win his first service game against Great Britain’s Billy Harris.

Harris had earlier held serve in front of a parochial Ken Rosewall Arena crowd who have — politely — let the Briton know they are behind their local hero de Minaur.

In a match lasting a gruelling three hours and 21 minutes, world number nine Daria Kasatkina was pushed to the brink before prevailing against American Peyton Stearns.

Russia’s Kasatkina, seeded three in Brisbane, drew upon all of her energy reserves to win 7-6 (9/7), 4-6, 7-5.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian 16th seed Dayana Yastremska departed the tournament after a 7-5, 6-4 loss to Russia’s Anastasia Potapova.

Australia’s top-ranked men’s player Alex de Minaur is warming up for his singles rubber against Great Britain’s Billy Harris on Ken Rosewall Arena.

We’ll keep you updated throughout the match.

Katie Boulter breaks Olivia Gadecki’s serve to put an exclamation mark on an impressive victory in the opening singles rubber.

Boulter was victorious 6-2, 6-1 over Gadecki to give Great Britain a 1-0 lead over Australia.

The straight-sets win put Great Britain into the quarterfinals, but Australia can still advance — as the top second-placed team in Sydney — via results in the remaining singles and mixed doubles rubbers.

Boulter will now watch on as her partner, Australian men’s number one Alex de Minaur, faces her British teammate Billy Harris.