Australia has pulled off a great escape to move through to the Davis Cup knockout rounds with a 3-0 sweep of Switzerland in Manchester on Sunday morning.
Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alex de Minaur both won their singles matches in straight sets before doubles duo Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell finished it off on a day when the Aussies needed a 3-0 sweep to be guaranteed progress through to the quarter-finals in Malaga in November.
The win means Australia has qualified as one of the top two teams in Group B, with Britain or France to join them.
“I’m extremely proud of the boys – the effort, the backs-against-the-wall motto of being able to fight our way out of it and see the big picture,” Aussie captain Lleyton Hewitt told tennis.com.au.
“They were able to do it and they deserve it.
“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.”
Kokkinakis rebounded from his singles defeat against Jack Draper earlier in the week to defeat Dominic Stricker 6-3 7-5 in the opening rubber.
Kokkinakis justified his contentiou sselection by Hewitt after he was chosen for the singles rubbers ahead of higher ranked player Jordan Thompson.
He said his feeling after the win was “just pure relief” after his earlier singles loss against Britain.
“I’m not going to lie, I was fighting some demons there towards the end,” he said.
“If you lose, you feel like you’ve let everyone down so it’s tough, I’m not going to lie.”
The Aussie gave one response in his on-court interview after the match that didn’t go down well with some of the fans.
When asked if he preferred Manchester United or Manchester City, Kokkinakis responded with London-based Premier League rival “Chelsea”.
De Minaur then impressed with a dominant 6-4 6-3 win over Marc-Andrea Huesler.
“It’s something we don’t take for granted … every time he steps on the court he leaves it all out there,” Hewitt said of De Minaur.
“He is the leader of this team out on the court and he makes my job so much bloody easier having him there, that’s for sure.”
Demon helps keep Davis Cup dream alive | 01:38
Meanwhile, Finland wrote a new page in their tennis history, beating the United States 2-1 in Split to reach the last eight of the Davis Cup for the first time.
Otto Virtanen set the Finns rolling in the winner-take-all match against the Americans with a 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 7-6 (9/7) win over Mackenzie McDonald.
Emil Ruusuvuori then followed up with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 victory against world number 13 Tommy Paul on his fourth match point, sending Finland through with Netherlands from Group D.
“You can hear it from the (fans). It means a lot for the whole country, for tennis in Finland. It’s a huge thing,” 24-year-old Ruusuvuori said post-match.
“We’re going to Malaga!”
— with AFP
