Australia’s battling tennis males have defied all the percentages with a makeshift doubles pairing steering them to victory over Croatia and into their first Davis Cup closing in 19 years on a nerve-shredding night in Malaga.
After extra heroics from Alex de Minaur had pulled Lleyton Hewitt’s group again from the brink along with his consummate tie-levelling singles win over Marin Cilic, Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell beat the Olympic doubles champions to seal Friday’s exhilarating 2-1 semi-final win.
It was a triumph straight out of captain Lleyton Hewitt’s gritty playbook as a doubles pairing who’d by no means performed collectively within the Davis Cup have been observing defeat earlier than rallying to down the formidable Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-4.
On Sunday (Monday AEDT), the Australians will face both star-studded Canada or second-string Italy within the closing, with the pressure now seeming to be with Hewitt’s heroes.
“It’s been a long time – we’re a very proud Davis Cup nation and I’m just thrilled for these boys,” stated Hewitt, who’ll be seeking to oversee a twenty ninth Australian Davis Cup triumph.
Australian possibilities appeared to have been slashed when the dismaying news emerged that the Wimbledon-winning partnership of Purcell and Matt Ebden would not be beginning the decider.
Hewitt later revealed the issue had been an ankle niggle for Ebden which meant “we had to go back to the drawing board and work out a plan that could get the win”.
His answer labored completely.
Thompson, a singles hero within the quarter-final win over the Netherlands, was changed by Thanasi Kokkinakis within the opener’s function however, as a fantastic doubles participant too, was chosen alongside his Sydneysider pal Purcell, a long-time coaching accomplice.
“There’s nothing f****** like it, mate! Honestly, nothing like it, the best thing I’ve ever experienced!” Purcell informed the gang, whereas Thompson steered rather less colourfully he hadn’t minded being dropped from the singles.
“Whatever role the team needs me in, I’ll do it. I still got to wear the green and gold and alongside Maxie in a do-or-die doubles match,” he stated.
The Croatian duo did not give the Aussies a sniff of an opportunity for nearly two units till they instantly conjured up inspiration.
Thompson fired some tracers down the center as they broke Mektic’s serve from nowhere at 5-5 within the second set to remodel the competition and each then produced a salvo of gorgeous winners to interrupt for 4-3 within the third too.
Pandemonium erupted amongst a small, noisy Aussie fan membership within the 8000 crowd within the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena, as Hewitt’s group quickly celebrated reaching their first closing since 2003 when the captain himself performed within the conquer Spain in Melbourne.
Earlier, de Minaur delivered a masterclass to maintain their hopes alive, outplaying Cilic 6-2 6-2 in a must-win second singles match following Kokkinakis’s 6-4 6-3 defeat by Borna Coric within the opening rubber.
Kokkinakis’s loss meant the onus had been on de Minaur to proceed his stellar run, needing to win his tenth singles rubber out of his previous 11 in opposition to Cilic, the final man to beat him within the competitors in Croatia’s 2021 group victory.
“I know my role,” stated de Minaur. “My role is to be tough as nails and be that guy that’s just hopefully going to be getting those tough wins. I have been doing that well for a while, so very proud of myself.”
