Alex de Minaur leads the Australian team into a final round-robin tie against Germany in Hamburg today.
Hamburg, Germany, 18 September 2022 | Leigh Rogers
The Australian team has already secured a place in the knockout stage of the 2022 Davis Cup Finals in November – but still has plenty to play for in a showdown against Germany today.
Both Australia and Germany have won all of their round-robin ties so far this week and now face-off for the top position in Group C, which will determine their next opponents.
| 2022 Davis Cup Finals Group C – current standings |
||||
| Nation | Ties won | Ties lost | Matches won | Matches lost |
| Australia | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Germany | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| France | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Belgium | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
The winner of Group C will be pitted against the Group B runner-up in the quarterfinals, while the Group C runner-up will face the Netherlands (winner of Group D).
> VIEW: All Davis Cup Finals group standings
The Australian team has been impressive this week, claiming five of the six rubbers contested. Alex de Minaur is unbeaten in singles, while Matt Ebden and Max Purcell have not lost a set in their two doubles matches.
| Australia’s Davis Cup team | |||
| Player | Age | Singles rank | Doubles rank |
| Alex de Minaur | 23 | No.22 | No.186 |
| Thanasi Kokkinakis | 26 | No.81 | No.20 |
| Jason Kubler | 29 | No.97 | No.216 |
| Max Purcell | 24 | No.226 | No.37 |
| Matt Ebden | 34 | No.657 | No.33 |
| Captain: Lleyton Hewitt | |||
> READ: Australian juniors relishing orange boy role at Davis Cup Finals
Yet Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt is wary of Germany, a team with the added advantage of being the host nation and playing in front of a home crowd.
“They’re going to be tough,” said Hewitt.
“We’ve had some tough battles with them in the past – in Australia, and over here in Germany.”
Germany has won its past two ties against Australia, scoring a 3-1 victory in the most recent tie in Brisbane in February 2018.
The German team has handled pressure superbly this week too, winning both ties in down-to-the-wire doubles rubbers.
This continues the unbeaten career records of world No.8 Tim Puetz and world No.29 Kevin Krawietz in Davis Cup doubles matches – and extends their winning streak together in the competition to seven matches.
| Germany’s Davis Cup team | |||
| Player | Age | Singles rank | Doubles rank |
| Oscar Otte | 29 | No.52 | No.390 |
| Jan-Lennard Struff | 32 | No.132 | No.136 |
| Yannick Hanfmann | 30 | No.153 | No.483 |
| Tim Puetz | 34 | – | No.8 |
| Kevin Krawietz | 30 | – | No.29 |
| Captain: Michael… | |||
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