Australia's Davis Cup hopes rest on De Minaur's shoulders

Alex De Minaur will have the weight of his nation's hopes on his shoulders on Saturday, as the Aussie must defeat Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in order for Australia to make it through the Davis Cup qualifiers.

Fucsovics, the World No.35. defeated Australian Open doubles champion Thanasi Kokkinakis to give his country a real chance hope of pinching the tie at Ken Rosewall Arena after De Minaur held up his end of the bargain against Zsombor Piros with a 7-5, 6-2 win.

The tie now hinges on Saturday’s doubles and reverse singles. The headline act will be De Minaur’s clash with Fucsovics, which will be sudden death for one country. The pair have clashed only once before – at last year’s Davis Cup Finals in Italy – and the result was a thrilling, three-set de Minaur win.

“It’s probably, before the tie started, the match a lot of people were waiting for. It’s great. We had a battle last Davis Cup, and now we get to do it again,” De Minaur said.

“We go out there, we’re both playing for pride and passion and our countries. Let the best man win.”