"Extremely proud": Australia pull off great escape at Davis Cup Finals Group Stage

ATP
Sunday, 17 September 2023 at 16:00
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Team Australia pulled off a tremendous victory against Switzerland in Group B of the ATP Davis Cup Finals Group Stage to ensure qualification.

The Australian team is captained by two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt and is made up of World No. 12 Alex de Minaur, No. 43 Max Purcell, No. 74 Thanasi Kokkinakis, and doubles World No. 8 Matthew Ebden.

They got off to a shaky start at the event, held at the AO Arena in Manchester, losing their first head-to-head with Great Britain 1-2. However, they came back strong against France, winning 2-1 before going on to sweep past Switzerland with a 3-0 victory that ensured their place as one of the top two teams in Group B.

Australia's phenomenal display at Davis Cup

Kokkinakis set the day in motion with his straight-sets defeat over Dominic Stricker, winning the match 6-3, 7-5. The Australian fought off five of six break points and converted three of his five break chances while firing 16 aces.

De Minaur followed this up nicely with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Marc-Andrea Huesler. The Canadian Open runner-up created 11 break points and converted three of them.

Following this, Ebden and Purcell ousted Huesler and Stricker in doubles with yet another straight-sets victory, 6-2, 6-4. This secured Australia's qualification to the knockout rounds in Malaga, which will be held in November. Either France or Great Britain will join them from Group B.

Hewitt is "extremely proud" of team

Speaking after the tie, Hewitt praised his team, saying he was 'extremely proud' of all of 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. 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," he said.

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