Australia beat the USA to take their place in the Davis Cup semi-finals as they look to win their first title since 2003.
Australia began their assault on a 29th Davis Cup title with a strong performance against the Americans.
Thanasi Kokkinakis took down America’s Ben Shelton in the opening match, to put the Aussies just one win away from the semi-finals.
Taylor Fritz then leveled things up for the USA, beating Alex de Minaur in straight sets, taking things to a decider.
The doubles pair of Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson secured victory for Australia with a win over Shelton and Tommy Paul, securing their place in the last four.
It was a great performance by the Australian side, that all began with a big win from Kokkinakis, someone that had impressed in training prior to the quarter-finals.
Lleyton Hewitt says Thanasi Kokkinakis was hitting the ball ‘a treat’ all week before Davis Cup win
Speaking following Australia’s 2-1 win over the United States at the Davis Cup, team captain Lleyton Hewitt revealed what he saw in training that led to him picking Kokkinakis for Australia’s opening singles match.
“He was hitting it a treat all week leading in,” he said.
“He got what he deserved.
“He put a very tough training block in for us to get that win today, which was important.”
Kokkinakis himself was delighted with his performance, that saw him win a three set-war with Shelton.
Kokkinakis and Shelton broke a five-year record in their match, with the Australian winning the third set tiebreaker 16-14.
“Oh man, I don’t know if I’ve been that pumped up in my life,” he said.
“I wanted that one bad, I wanted to help my team.
“I came out playing unbelievable, I thought the second set I was a little bit unlucky but I thought I was playing good tennis throughout.
“Could’ve gone either way towards the end, that’s tennis, but I kept my nerve and I really wanted to win for the boys.
“I can’t even speak. I’m happy.”
Will it be third time lucky for Australia at the Davis Cup in 2024?
Australia hasn’t won the Davis Cup in over 20 years, a worryingly long drought for the second-most successful nation in the history of the competition.
They have however reached the final, in the previous two editions of the tournament, losing out in 2022 and 2023, both tough losses to take.
2022 Davis Cup Final – Canada beat Australia 2-0
Australia battled past the Netherlands and Croatia to reach the final of the Davis Cup back in 2022, where they came up against a young Canadian team looking for their first ever title.
Kokkinakis fell to rising star Denis Shapovalov in the opener in straight sets, leaving the North American side just one win away from glory.
Felix Auger-Aliassime then took down De Minaur 6-3, 6-4, to break Australian hearts, with Canada lifting the trophy.
2023 Davis Cup Final – Italy beat Australia 2-0
Australia bounced back impressively in 2023, as they shook off their defeat to Canada by surging straight back to the final.
Knocking out the Czech Republic and Finland on their way to the final, they knew that a tough test against now world number-one Jannik Sinner and Italy was in store.
Alexei Popyrin and Matteo Arnaldi faced off in a thriller to get things underway in Malaga, the Italian winning in three tight sets to give his side a 1-0 lead.
Sinner then did what Sinner does, as he finished things up with a straight sets win over De Minaur to clinch the title.
The Aussies will be hoping to get revenge this time round, with a rematch against Sinner and Italy in the semi-finals on Saturday.
A win would see them face off with either Germany or the Netherlands in the final, an opportunity for Australia to finally lift the trophy once more.
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