Australia's Jason Kubler has ranked his come-from-behind defeat of world No.27 Dan Evans at the United Cup among the most memorable moments of his tennis career.
Australia's sixth-best male player on ranking and a 2022 Davis Cup representative, Kubler was selected in the United Cup team after Jordan Thompson, Chris O'Connell and Thanasi Kokkinakis opted to start their summer at the Adelaide International instead.
World No.107 Kubler appeared at long odds to play, though, until Nick Kyrgios pulled out injured and forced captains Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur to reshuffle their deck.
Australia had lost its first tie against Great Britain by the time Kubler made it onto Ken Rosewall Arena on Friday night but the 29-year-old took no notice of previous results as he claimed the first set 6-3.
Just when Evans looked like he was going on with the contest up 5-0 in the second set, Kubler parlayed home court advantage into two break points that helped him draw level 5-5.
After forcing the match into a tiebreaker, the Australian edged his way to a memorable win 6-3 7-6 (7-3) and sent the locals into a frenzy.
The win capped off a stellar calendar year for Kubler that included the biggest win of his career against world No.9 Felix Auger-Aliassime and a Wimbledon campaign that stretched into the round of 16.
It also marked his first time representing Australia before a home crowd.
"It definitely ranks pretty highly," Kubler said of his latest victory.
"(The home crowd) was a big reason I was able to come back.
"When you're playing tournaments by yourself, it's very tough in those moments to come back but then tonight, all credit to them they really helped me get over the line."
A horror run of injuries earlier in his career has given Kubler all the more reason to savour such moments.
Tipped as a first-rate prospect in his youth, Kubler had undergone six knee surgeries by the time he turned 24 and between March 2012 and May 2015, played only on clay for fear of doing more damage.
"Honestly, the last six to nine months have just been sort of a whirlwind for me," he said.
"I've done a lot of things that I didn't know if I was going to be able to do.
"If anything, tonight just adds to that list where I'm surprising myself.
"I definitely feel like now that I'm getting a little bit older, I'm definitely chasing these moments. These moments are the reasons that I play now.
"I want to try and play on all the big courts, it's like I almost have an imaginary checklist and each time I get to play in these big matches, it's like a little tick."
