A heroic effort from Alex de Minaur helps Australia reach consecutive Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 2001.
Malaga, Spain, 22 November 2023 | Leigh Rogers
Australia has fought back from the brink of elimination to keep our Davis Cup dreams alive.
The Czech Republic made a near-perfect start against the Aussies in a quarterfinal showdown at Malaga, with world No.78 Tomas Machac scoring a straight-sets win against Jordan Thompson in the opening singles rubber.
World No.31 Jiri Lehecka, who entered the tie on a seven-match winning streak in Davis Cup, then served for victory against Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur.
Yet the world No.12 found another gear under immense pressure, fighting back to post a stirring 4-6 7-6(2) 7-5 victory.
โItโs been a very long year, right? I think it would have been quite easy for me to roll over under the circumstances, but thatโs just not the type of player I am.ย Iโm always going to fight until the end,โ De Minaur said after the two-hour and 32-minute battle.
โI kind of got a little sniff. I was able to kind of play a solid game there (trailing 4-5 in the second set), and after that, I felt like the whole momentum kind of changed.โ
Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt was full of praise for De Minaurโs effort.
โ(Alex) had to dig really deep, and yet again, he came out and saved us,โ Hewitt said.
De Minaurโs inspiring effort lifted the entire Aussie team, especially Matt Ebden and Max Purcell who teamed up in the final doubles rubber.
The Wimbledon 2022 champions kept their unbeaten record in Davis Cup this season intact, sealing a remarkable victory for Australia in the process, with a 6-4 7-5 triumph against Czech pair Lehecka and Adam Pavlasek.
โThat was impressive in itself, you know, to come out after riding the ups and downs of both singles matches, and then to be able to just switch it on like they did and put in that kind of impressive performance was awesome,โ Hewitt said.
Ebden and Purcell have now won four Davis Cup doubles matches in 2023, all without conceding a set.
This marks the first time that Australia has advanced to back-to-back Davis Cup semifinals in 22 years.
Surprise packets Finland, enjoying their nationโs deepest run in Davis Cup history, await in the semifinals.
The semifinals will be played on Friday 24 November in Spain (from 2am AEDT on Saturday 25 November) andย broadcast live in Australia on the Nine Network.
Davis Cup,…
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