UNITED CUP

January 4, 2026

Lleyton Hewitt

Storm Hunter

John-Patrick Smith

Team Australia

Press Conference

Team Australia - 2

Team Norway - 1

THE MODERATOR: Storm, you were the hero of the evening, winning two points. Can you sum up your evening?

STORM HUNTER: Yeah, super, super happy. Just glad that I could do my part tonight. Just wanted to go out there and, yeah, give it a good crack.

Wearing the green and gold is something that you don't take lightly, and I really wanted to do my best for the team, and really happy to come away with two wins tonight and keep us alive going forward on Tuesday.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Stormy, when you consider a year ago you were a spectator over here, how good does it feel to be actually on the court and being part of the whole team situation?

STORM HUNTER: Oh, it feels unbelievable, to be honest. Last year being here was great, but also heartbreaking. I was really struggling not playing the Aussie summer and still kind of midway through my rehab. Yeah, things were tough.

Yeah, 2025 was pretty tough to find my feet back on tour, and nights like this make it all worth it. Even before going out, I was thinking all the hard work that I've done, and every tough moment, it makes it worth it to kind of enjoy these moments.

I've represented Australia in Billie Jean King Cup and never played in a crowd like this. It was loud. It was huge, and I just wanted to, yeah, go out and enjoy it.

Q. For both of you, you both seemed extremely passionate after your wins. Where does this rank for both of you in terms of your best career wins and how are you feeling right now?

JOHN-PATRICK SMITH: Over the moon right now. To be able to play in this environment, to represent your country in home soil with great people, I mean, you can't get a better opportunity.

Today, like Storm said, she's going to play. She played two matches. We had mixed doubles. It was all balanced.

So to get through today and get the first win under the belt is great. Yet, kind of enjoy tonight, and we're back again on Tuesday against Czech.

STORM HUNTER: Like I said, I think for all of us representing Australia is one of the highest honors. I know both the men and women on this team, you know, it's a huge honor and a privilege. We don't take it for granted.

These matches and these wins with the crowd and wearing the green and gold are definitely for me the highlights of my career. When I finish, whenever that's done, these are definitely going to be the highlights of my career, for sure.

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's always great. Any time these guys get the opportunity to wear the green and gold and play in front of a big crowd as well is always special. They don't get to come back here and play in Australia that often throughout the year. It's a bloody long year for these guys traveling all year, so they've got to try and soak it up and enjoy these moments as much as possible.

Q. Lleyton, how would you describe the night overall?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's been a big couple of days really. Not 100% knowing how things were going to play out, especially with the women singles and Maya struggling and then Maddy coming down with something as well.

Yeah, all credit to Storm for willing to do whatever is needed for the team, which is fantastic, but I know she had the full backing of both those girls that weren't able to play today as well, which is a nice thing to go out there and have that team support and camaraderie and pulling together.

Yeah, it was always going to be tough for Alex against such a quality player as well. So Storm had a lot of pressure on her going out in that first match, and she was able to handle it extremely well.

Then mixed doubles, I've been around this format enough to know that there's only a few points here and there in it, and that's exactly how it played out again tonight, but we were able to come out on the right side of it.

Q. Lleyton, obviously disappointed with Maya's situation. I understand it's like a flu virus. Any indication on when she may be fit? Also as far as Alex's match, uncharacteristic eight double faults in that one. He was saying there was also maybe a case of first match of the year, conditions were also a bit heavier playing at night. Just your thoughts on those two things?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, Maya, we'll just wait and see. I really don't know. I haven't seen her obviously for a couple of days now. Yeah, fingers crossed, but also, she hopefully gets a chance to feel better and actually do some training if she's going to come out and play as well. Otherwise, that would be a big ask.

And it is a long summer, as well. You know, she wants to be playing well for the whole month of January.

In terms of Alex, yeah, I felt Casper played a great match. One of the best serving matches I've seen him have in terms of percentages, hitting his spots especially on his first serve.

Yeah, Alex, whether he was trying to do a little bit too much with the second serve early on. He gave away that first service break early in the match. He did really well to hang in there in the opening set and nearly found a way to turn it around.

But yeah, as I said, I thought Casper played a great match in those conditions. He's very tough to beat.