Hewitt’s brilliant Aussies power into Davis Cup finals
Australia’s Davis Cup team have produced a bravura display to whitewash Switzerland in a must-win tie and roar into the finals of the men’s “World Cup of tennis”.
Lleyton Hewitt’s team knew they would guarantee their tickets to the eight-team knock-out finals if they could beat the Swiss 3-0 in Saturday’s final group stage tie in Manchester – and Thanasi Kokkinakis, Alex de Minaur and the doubles pairing of Max Purcell and Matt Ebden duly obliged with scintillating performances.
It means the Australians, who finished runners-up last year, will be able to return to Malaga in November with their eyes set on going one better than last year by lifting the title for the first time in 20 years since Hewitt led them to victory as a player.
“Who knows?” shrugged Hewitt on court at the AO Arena after being asked about their chances.
“We gave ourselves a great opportunity last year and the boys got a taste for it. We want to try and push a little bit harder and see if we can climb that mountain and I feel like I’ve got the boys that are able to do that.“
Hewitt’s key decision – to keep faith in Kokkinakis – paid off handsomely as the Adelaide powerhouse, who’d suffered three straight Davis Cup singles defeats, beat Dominic Stricker 6-3 7-5 in the opening rubber, which has proved a troublesome launch pad for the captain.
Then de Minaur, the Australian No. 1, continued his proud record in the green and gold, outplaying Marc-Andrea Huesler, who’d been preferred to veteran three-time grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka, 6-4 6-3 to seal Australia’s second victory of the week following their 2-1 win over France.
Then there was a sense of inevitability about the reunited “M & M” pairing of Ebden and Purcell winning the third straight rubber
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