Alex de Minaur conceded to having “one of those days” as Australia’s hopes of repeating last year’s run to the Davis Cup finals were left hanging by a thread in Manchester.
Both de Minaur, the world No.12, and Thanasi Kokkinakis lost their singles matched against Great Britain as the Aussies lost the first of three pool matches 2-1, a doubles victory the only success.
Kokkinakis lost to 21-year-old debutant Jack Draper in three sets before de Minaur was taken down by world No.27 Jack Evans, who was selected in the No.1 position ahead of 17th-ranked compatriot Cameron Norrie, also in three sets.
Australia now faces France in a must-win tie with only the top two countries from each group progressing to the finals in Spain and November and team captain Lleyton Hewitt said his men were close enough to suggest a turn around was imminent.
“We were awfully close to probably winning 2-1 or 3-0 if things had of went our way,” Hewitt said.
“Thanasi, that was a flip of the coin in the end and could have gone either way.
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“Alex, if he could have taken his chances early in the first set, it could have been slightly different as well.
“In this format, anything could happen.”
De Minaur had won seven of his past eight Davis Cup matches but after going down 0-4 in the deciding set couldn’t quite reel in Evans’ lead.
“It is disappointing that I couldn’t get it done for my country and teammates,” De Minaur said.
“Today was just one of those days, I lost to the better man.”
Kokkinakis served for the match in the 10th game of the deciding set of his match but world No.106 Draper used the energy of the home crowd to fight back and close out his match.
“I had golden opportunities serving for it obviously and 4-2 up in the breaker serving, but let the nerves get to me,” a disappointed Kokkinakis said.
“Hats off to him, he played some good tennis when he needed to, but it’s definitely a tough one and stings for sure.”
Matt Ebden and Max Purcell secured the final doubles rubber with the 2022 Wimbledon champions taking what could be a crucial win for the Australians should the win-loss ratio determine who progresses to the finals.
