Hunter spares de Minaur's blushes as Aussies overcome spirited Norway in late-night classic

(Getty/Andy Cheung)

Storm Hunter has pulled off one of the best performances of her career to single-handedly lead Australia to victory over Norway in a late-night classic, which finished past midnight in front of a capacity crowd at Ken Rosewall Arena.

The Aussies were on the back foot from the start, with Maya Joint ruled out due to illness and Maddison Inglis also under the weather, so Hunter, who has primarily played doubles since returning from a horrific Achilles injury, was substituted into singles to face Norway's Malene Helgø.

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Hunter got off to a strong start by taking the first set 6-2, before Helgo fought back with some first-strike tennis to push ahead in the second set, before Hunter took a lead in the second set tiebreak and closed out the set to take the match.

The 31-year-old Aussie and coach Nicole Pratt were both in tears after the victory, with Hunter remarking that she was not sure if she would ever reach this level in singles again, as she acknowledged that this was the best crowd that she had ever played in front of, with Ken Rosewall Arena absolutely packed for the occasion.

"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," said Hunter.

"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 go out and enjoy it."

Ruud then took on de Minaur, with the Australian looking relatively flat throughout the match as Ruud broke early in both sets and never looked back, despite de Minaur having some break-back chances when Ruud was serving for the first set. By contrast, the Norwegian was clinical and ruthless, dominating on his forehand throughout the match.

"He played a really good match," de Minaur said. "Of course, there's a couple of things that I can do better, but also understanding that it is the first match of the year.

"He is a very good, high-quality opponent. I'm going to do my best to tweak those couple of things and hopefully for the next match be ready and be able to get a win for my team."

While Australia decided to field the doubles specialists J.P. Smith and Hunter for the mixed doubles tie, Norway substituted Ruud out for the mixed doubles in a puzzling decision, pairing doubles specialist Urikke Eikeri with Viktor Durasovic. It proved to be costly as Durasovic struggled to keep up with the other three players on court, as Alex De Minaur suggested that it was perhaps a desire to stay fresh rather than an injury that kept Ruud off the mixed doubles court.

"I'm not too sure about the schedule, but he was telling me they play soon, so he's probably looking at his body to recover and make sure he's ready for the singles and not compromise that," said de Minaur.

"I mean, he did a pretty good job out there on the singles court today, so maybe he doesn't want to play any more tennis for the day."

The Norwegian underdogs started incredibly well, taking the first set as Smith struggled to find his footing in his first representative outing for Australia. But the Aussies recovered in the second set, as Smith began to control the net, poaching at every opportunity as the errors began to leak from Durasovic's racquet.

Fittingly, it was Hunter who hit the winning shot as she pushed the ball through Eikeri's racquet to close out one of the best performances of her career.  

"Storm was great. She was unbelievable, as she so often is representing her country. So we love Storm. She is amazing to have on the team," said de Minaur.

"I think for all of us representing Australia is one of the highest honours. I know both the men and women on this team; it's a huge honour and a privilege. We don't take it for granted," said Hunter.

"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."

Team captain Lleyton Hewitt added: "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 travelling all year, so they've got to try and soak it up and enjoy these moments as much as possible."

Norway will play Czechia on Monday morning before the Aussies take on Czechia on Tuesday night.

The Kooyong Classic returns to the spiritual home of Australian tennis from January 13-15, 2026.

Each year, the Kooyong Classic features the world’s best players in their final preparation for the Australian Open. 

The 2026 event will feature Lorenzo Musetti, Alexander Bublik, Nick Kyrgios, Karen Khachanov, Flavio Cobolli, Frances Tiafoe, Learner Tien, Matteo Berrettini, Hubert Hurkacz, Marin Čilić and Zhang Zhizhen, alongside Donna Vekić and a special guest appearance Daniela Hantuchová. More to be announced in coming weeks.

Tickets on sale now through Ticketek/www.kooyongclassic.com.au

Hospitality packages can be viewed on the Kooyong Classic website and purchased by contacting info@kooyongclassic.com.au.