Undefeated Australia leads Group B in Valencia after a win over Czech Republic, and its Davis Cup Final qualification will be confirmed if Spain beats France.
Valencia, Spain, 13 September 2024 | Ian Chadband (AAP)
Australia’s soaring tennis men are on the verge of another crack at Davis Cup Finals glory after winning their second group-stage tie in just three days with a 3-0 whitewash of an ailing Czech Republic outfit in Valencia.
Lleyton Hewitt’s team, Davis Cup runners-up for the last two years, are now on track to make the ‘final-eight’ week in Malaga in November after following up their 2-1 win over France with a much easier outing against the injury and illness-hit Czechs on Thursday.
Thanasi Kokkinakis, again entrusted with the tricky No.2 singles spot by captain Hewitt, came up trumps once more on the indoor hard court once more, maturely dealing with the erratic firepower of rising teenage star Jakub Mensik in an impressive 6-2 6-7(2) 6-3 victory first up.
“To step up and get two points on the board is massive,” Kokkinakis told daviscup.com, also referencing his win over Arthur Fils in Australia’s earlier victory against France.
“Big up to Lleyton for trusting me and giving me the run. All of us could have played, that’s the beauty of tennis in Australia right now, we’re all having great years.”
| 2024 Davis Cup Finals Group B standings |
|||
| Nation | Ties won | Ties lost | Matches W-L |
| Australia | 2 | 0 | 5-1 |
| Spain | 1 | 0 | 3-0 |
| France | 0 | 1 | 1-2 |
| Czech Republic | 0 | 2 | 0-6 |
The Czech challenge then crumbled after just eight minutes of the second rubber when their No.1 Tomas Machac, who had been forced to retire with cramp during his loss to Carlos Alcaraz in Wednesday’s loss against hosts Spain, again pulled out, this time with injury, against Alexei Popyrin.
To complete what Hewitt felt was “a perfect day”, his trusty doubles pairing of Matt Ebden and Max Purcell made short work of Mensik and Adam Pavlasek 6-4 6-2 to improve their Davis Cup record together to 8-1 and seal the vital win.
“Thanasi was fantastic in the first match,” said Hewitt.
“It was how he responded when challenged, which was so impressive to me. Really proud of his effort; fantastic to back up from a couple of days ago as well. That’s going to give him the world of belief in himself.
“Pop [Alexei Popyrin] was ready to go, but didn’t get much of a chance. We’ll certainly take it though.
“We know how important in…
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