Kokkinakis saves 4 match factors earlier than Ebden and Thompson mix for doubles success as Australian defeats USA within the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
Malaga,Spain, 22 November 2024 | AAP
Impressed captaincy, a nerve-shredding underdog’s win for Thanasi Kokkinakis and good old school Australian doubles pedigree has powered Australia to a shock 2-1 win over the USA and into the semifinals of the Davis Cup in Spain.
Lleyton Hewitt outduelled his American counterpart Bob Bryan in the important thing captaincy calls of their quarterfinal tie in Malaga on Thursday as 28-times winners Australia defeated the 32-time champs within the battle between the 2 most profitable nations within the historic males’s ‘World Cup of tennis’.
First, Hewitt plumped for the daring selection of world No.77 Kokkinakis to open proceedings in opposition to big-hitting left-hander Ben Shelton, ranked 56 locations increased, and the Aussie outsider got here up trumps after saving 4 match factors to prevail in an epic deciding tiebreaker 6-1 4-6 7-6 (14).
Then, after Alex de Minaur fell in straight units to Taylor Fritz within the No.1s’ duel, it was all the way down to doubles Grand Slam winners Jordan Thompson and Matt Ebden to group up for the primary time within the Cup and defeat Shelton and Tommy Paul 6-4 6-4 within the deciding rubber.
Chest bumping into the semis 🔥🇦🇺#DavisCup | @TennisAustralia pic.twitter.com/VL5EbFM8eq
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) November 21, 2024
“Unbelievable. Once we acquired the break there at four-all, I might have run excessive of the entire bench,” beamed Thompson. “I used to be sporting my coronary heart on my sleeve, , bleeding inexperienced and gold.”
The American skipper Bryan had ditched his specialist doubles pair, Olympic silver nedallists Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek, attempting to shake up the Aussies by unleashing two of his singles stars – however the choice backfired spectacularly.
“We had been hoping to catch the Aussies a bit of bit without warning,” sighed Bryan, to which Hewitt countered: “It didn’t shock us that a lot, to be trustworthy … I’d seen them do drills through the week.”
It put Australia one triumph away from a third-straight closing look after two runner’s-up finishes, however they’ll must topple both champions Italy or Argentina on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) to earn one other crack at lifting the Cup for the primary time in 21 years on Sunday (Monday AEDT).
“I don’t know if I’ve been that pumped up in my life. I wished that for my group,” mentioned Kokkinakis, after lastly prevailing on his seventh match level within the marathon 30-point breaker.
“It might have gone both means, however I stored my nerve.”
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Hewitt reckoned it hadn’t been a raffle to play Kokkinakis, regardless that he’d solely performed one lower-level Challenger in Sydney and a dropping Laver Cup singles within the two months since two large wins on the Davis Cup qualifiers in Valencia.
The a lot higher-ranked Montreal Masters winner Alexei Popyrin and Thompson had been each missed, with Hewitt grinning: “He (Kokkinakis) performed just like the winner of the New South Wales Open Challenger a few month in the past!
“Clearly, by no means simple making these choices however we all know if we will get him going on the market and taking part in his highest degree, he’s harmful for anyone, I don’t care who it’s. I had full perception in him.
“We form of put him on ice, just about till now, and let him off the leash right now, and he totally repaid us.”
Perception amply rewarded, Hewitt then thrust De Minaur into the second singles for a rematch with world No.4 Fritz, who had solely simply pipped him on the ATP Finals the earlier week.
The important thing second got here as Bryan revealed his doubles swap quarter-hour earlier than they had been because of go on court docket.
“We had been anticipating the opposite pair and however we knew they’ve acquired unbelievable gamers who can play doubles, so we had been prepared,” mentioned Ebden, who like Thompson has gained Grand Slam doubles however each with a distinct accomplice, Purcell, who was cheering on at courtside after current damage struggles.
“What a day!”
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