Australia’s dream of regaining the Davis Cup after almost 20 years has been blasted aside by the firepower of Canada’s twin rockets.
First, Thanasi Kokkinakis was put to the sword by Denis Shapovalov earlier than Alex de Minaur received shredded 6-3 6-4 by Felix Auger-Aliassime as Canada lifted the lads’s World Cup of tennis for the primary time within the competitors’s 122-year annals on Sunday.
But Australia’s irritating 19-year watch for a twenty ninth title goes on after their brave, sudden run to the ultimate in Malaga ended with the searing high quality of two top-20 stars proving an excessive amount of for Lleyton Hewitt’s battlers.
“I’m gutted for the boys. They’ve put in the commitment and the work and done absolutely everything right all year,” stated Hewitt.
“They left it all out there once again; we came up slightly short, but I couldn’t be prouder – and all of Australia should be proud.”
But it was such a complete win – essentially the most one-sided of the whole finals week – that there was no want for a deciding doubles, which might have featured the Aussie pairing of Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell towards Auger-Aliassime and Vasek Pospisil.
No workforce and not using a top-20 participant has gained the title since Argentina in 2016 and that lack of an Australian world-beater was obtrusive on Sunday (Monday AEDT) as they missed out on a primary triumph since 2003.
After a dejected Kokkinakis was left scolding himself for being “pretty much useless” in his 6-2 6-4 shredding by an impressed Shapovalov, the never-say-die Australian No.1 de Minaur knew he’d want a doubtlessly career-defining win over Auger-Aliassime.
The huge names have been out in drive among the many 9500 crowd on the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena within the Spanish resort, with Novak Djokovic bringing his son alongside to look at and soccer star Gerard Pique, overlord of the new-look Davis Cup, within the VIP tribune.
And they have been all wowed by Auger-Aliassime, who seemed each inch the long run grand slam winner that has lengthy been seen as his tennis future. Maybe even in Melbourne in January?
“It’s a dream come true,” beamed the 22-year-old, who’d gained the junior Davis Cup title with Shapovalov in 2015 in a partnership that would now go on to dominate the senior competitors after two finals in three years.
“It’s a special team. Hopefully, this generation will be able to bring this very far.”
De Minaur was an image of distress after the world No.6’s languid energy ultimately overwhelmed his defiance.
The Canadian’s brilliance makes him look a very good guess on the Australian Open subsequent 12 months, however even within the last sport, as he dug out an unimaginable backhand counter-punch to maneuver 30-0 forward on Auger-Aliassime’s serve, de Minaur simply wouldn’t give up.
“It’s tough, but so many Australian Davis Cup players have followed our journey throughout the whole year every step and were riding this roller coaster with us. It just shows what a family this Australian Davis Cup team is,” stated Spanish-based de Minaur, whose household turned out to cheer.
Shapovalov, who’d had a combined week in Malaga and struggled with a again drawback his semi-final loss on Saturday, selected the right time to show his full repertoire of knifing abilities towards the outclassed Kokkinakis.
Whether Kokkinakis, who’d misplaced his semi-final rubber with Croatia’s Borna Coric, ought to have been chosen relatively than Thompson, who’d gained his quarter-final singles rubber, was debatable – and, in fact, most likely neither might have coped with Shapovalov on this temper.
Kokkinakis, who hadn’t performed a tour singles match for eight weeks earlier than Malaga, struggled towards the world No.18, who sprayed 23 winners in all with rapier-like pictures off each wings in an 89-minute lesson.
