Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt has “full belief” his workforce can flip round a heartbreaking defeat in final yr’s last after ignoring massive rankings strikes to stay with the workforce that went right down to Canada for the ultimate eight showdown in Spain in November.
With 9 Australians now within the high 100, Hewitt was spoiled for alternative however overlooked Alexei Popyrin, who has jumped to a career-high rating of 39 after a robust current run in Japan.
Instead, he’s held agency with the workforce that reached final yr’s Davis Cup last, naming world No.13 Alex de Minaur, Max Purcell (41), Jordan Thompson (58), Thanasi Kokkinakis (68) and world No.6 doubles specialist Matthew Ebden.
Popyrin wasn’t the one unfortunate one, with Aleksandar Vukic (56) and Chris O‘Connell (61) both ranked higher than Kokkinakis.
The five-man crew won through to the finals, and a clash with the Czech Republic on November 22 in Malaga, after overcoming an opening defeat to Great Britain in Manchester.
The Aussies won the next two matches, with de Minaur winning two of his three singles matches while Max Purcell and Matt Ebden were unbeaten across their three doubles matches.
Having lost last year’s last, the Australian workforce is trying to win their first Davis Cup title in 20 years and should once more overcome the Canadians to elevate the trophy.
The winner of the tie towards the Czech Republic will play the winner of Canada and Finland within the semi-finals.
“We’re very wary but we feel quietly confident in our team and I have full belief in the boys that they can go out there and hopefully get the job done for us,” Hewitt stated.
“On our half of the draw is Canada, who we lost a very close final to last year, so it would be nice to get an opportunity to try and get revenge on them in the semi-finals if we can get through.
“Otherwise, Finland, who have really been a bit of a surprise packet, have quality players throughout their team as well.
“First thing first, we have to take care of the Czech Republic to give us a shot to get through to the final four.”
The final eight nations competing for the Davis Cup are Australia, the Czech Republic, Canada, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Great Britain and Serbia, who’re being led by world No.1 Novak Djokovic.
AUSTRALIA DAVIS CUP TEAM
Alex de Minaur, Max Purcell, Jordan Thompson, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Matthew Ebden.
Captain Lleyton Hewitt
Source: www.news.com.au
