Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt explains that team spirit is strong as Australia faces Belgium in the first Davis Cup Finals tie in Hamburg tonight.
Hamburg, Germany, 13 September 2022 | Vivienne Christie
Few people in tennis understand the passion that Davis Cup instils better than Lleyton Hewitt.
Hewitt, now the Australian Davis Cup Captain, represented his nation in a record 43 Davis Cup ties after his debut as an 18-year-old in 1999. Featuring in two titles for Australia (1999 and 2003), Hewitt built an unparalleled 59-21 record for total Davis Cup match wins, with his 42-14 singles record also unrivalled.
As Australia continues a campaign for a 29th Davis Cup title in this week’s round-robin stage of the Davis Cup Finals in Hamburg, Hewitt is delighted to see a similar commitment from current team members.
The Australian team is spearheaded by Alex de Minaur, who at age 23 is already a veteran of nine Davis Cup ties. Boasting a 7-4 record in singles play, De Minaur has won six of his last seven matches contested in the competition, his only loss in that time coming against Croatia’s Marin Cilic at the 2021 Finals.
“He’s really the leader out of the playing group out there and people have seen how well he’s played in the Davis Cup competition over the last probably three or four years now and it’s certainly one of his goals, to try and win it one day,” said Hewitt of De Minaur.
“We’d like to think that hopefully in a week-and-a-half’s time we can go through to the quarterfinals and give ourselves that opportunity this year.”
Hewitt can rely on both seasoned campaigners and newly minted Davis Cup competitors to help achieve that goal.
The Australian team, which was drawn in Group C alongside Belgium, France and Germany, is rounded out by Thanasi Kokkinakis, Matt Ebden as well as debutantes Jason Kubler and Max Purcell.
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Kokkinakis will aim to replicate his heroics from the Davis Cup qualifier against Hungary in Sydney earlier this year, with victory over Zsombor Piros in the fifth match securing the tie for Australia.
“Until you’re actually put in that situation, nobody really knows the pressure that is put upon you. I know firsthand, I’ve played in those matches before and you take nothing for granted,” said Hewitt of Kokkinakis, who returned…
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