Thanasi Kokkinakis has vindicated his surprise captain’s call to keep Australia’s Davis Cup title hopes alive with a nerve-shredding victory over big-serving American Ben Shelton in Spain.
Kokkinakis saved four match points before finally converting on the sixth of his own in a tension-filled and vital 6-1 4-6 7-6 (16-14) win in the opening singles rubber of Australia’s quarter-final tie in Malaga.
But Alex de Minaur lost the second tie 6-3, 6-4 to Talor Fritz to set up a decider in the doubles match between the Australian pair of Jordan Thompson and Matt Ebden and Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.
Skipper Lleyton Hewitt sprung a selection surprise, opting for Kokkinakis to lead Australia into battle on Thursday ahead of the higher-ranked Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson.
With title glory in Montreal in August, Popyrin was the first Australian since Hewitt in 2003 to win a Masters 1000 crown, before taking down Novak Djokovic at the US Open four weeks later.
Thompson has also cracked the world’s top 30 for the first time with his own breakout season.
But, boom or bust, Hewitt continued to back Kokkinakis, despite him being ranked more than 50 places below both Popyrin and Thompson.
Kokkinakis was fresh off winning the NSW Open’s ATP Challenger Tour event in Sydney after also upsetting 2023 Australian Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas at the US Open in September.
And the 28-year-old delivered to give Australia a 1-0 lead in the do-or-die quarter-final Cup tie.
Kokkinakis’s victory gave world No.9 Alex de Minaur the chance to send Australia into a third straight Davis Cup semi-final with victory over the fifth-ranked Taylor Fritz in the second singles match.
But, in a repeat of last week’s ATP Finals group stages last week in Turin when Fritz edged de Minaur, the American triumphed to pull their head-to-head record level at 5-5.
Chasing a first Davis Cup title since 2003, Australia are bidding to make a third consecutive final after losing to Canada and Italy in the past two deciders.
Kokkinakis vindicated his captain’s faith to steam through the opening set in 22 minutes, breaking Shelton three times.
