A spirited Alex de Minaur rescue mission laid the platform for Australia to take down the Czech Republic in Malaga and keep hopes of ending a 20-year Davis Cup title drought alive.
Hoping to go one better than 2022 when captain Lleyton Hewitt’s team were beaten in the final by Canada, Aussie No.1 de Minaur came from a set down to win the second singles rubber after Jordan Thompson lost the first in straight-sets in the quarter-final clash.
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Then doubles stars Matt Ebden and Max Purcell continued their stunning run as a combination to secure a 6-4, 7-5 victory in the deciding match and secure Australia passage to a semi-final showdown with Finland.
Ebden and Purcell have now won six of their seven Davis Cup rubbers together, including three victories in an unbeaten week in Manchester in September that helped propel Australia to the finals in Spain.
Knowing he had to defeat world No.31 Jiri Lehecka win to keep Australia’s hopes alive after Thompson’s loss to Tomas Machac, de Minaur lost the opening set which took him to the “dark places” he said players can go in matches.
But he went to the well, and his never-give-up reputation, to secure the second-set in a tie break and then a nail-biting third set in the 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 triumph to level the tie before his reliable doubles crew sealed the deal.
“I don’t know,” an exhausted de Minaur said when asked on court how he’d prevailed in the two-and-a-half hour tussle.
“Ultimately, it’s always going to be tough. You’re always going to be in a very dark places in matches but maybe I’ve got that reputation of never giving up and I’m competing to the end.”
Ebden said of De Minaur’s performance after the doubles win: “What Alex did to, to come back keep us alive was incredible,” Ebden said after the match.
Earlier Thompson, who was picked by Hewitt ahead of late-call up Alexei Popyrin to open the tie, was straight-sets loser to 23-year-old Machac, going down 6-4, 7-5, demanding the recovery from his teammates.
Australia lost last year’s final continuing a 20-year Davis Cup winning drought but they will be favoured to beat Finland and reach another decider.
“So proud. Pride and passion, that’s what it’s all about,” Hewitt said after the match.
“… Everyone’s got each other’s back and hell of an effort by the boys today and these two (Ebden and Purcell), let’s not take that performance for granted … it was bloody impressive
