Alex De Minaur helps give Australia Davis Cup lead against Sweden

In the Davis Cup first-round qualifier held in Stockholm, Australian players Alex de Minaur and Aleksandar Vukic won their respective singles matches, giving Australia a strong start. De Minaur, making his first appearance since the Australian Open quarter-finals, defeated Mikael Ymer with a score of 7-5, 6-1.

De Minaur's victory gave Australia the lead in the five-match tie, marking his 16th career Davis Cup singles win. This victory was also a great boost for the injury-plagued Australian team, silencing the noisy crowd at the Royal Tennis Hall in the Swedish capital. Although de Minaur ultimately won in straight sets, he faced a considerable challenge early in the match against Ymer, a former top-50 player.

Ymer returned to professional tennis after an 18-month ban for violating anti-doping rules, and won the Luxembourg ITF event last week. In a courtside interview after the match, de Minaur said, "It was a very tough, competitive match. Mikael played great. I knew he was going to be a very difficult opponent, so I'm very happy to get the win for Australia."

Subsequently, Vukic, making his Davis Cup debut, defeated Leo Borg 6-4, 6-4 in the second singles match. Vukic stated, "Leo is a very good player. He gave me a lot of trouble, and it's always tough playing in your opponent's home. Alex did great before me, hopefully we can rest and recover well, and then let the doubles guys go out there and do their thing."