Thanasi Kokkinakis gives Australia surprise lead over USA in Davis Cup quarter-final

By James On Nov 21, 2024

Thanasi Kokkinakis made good on his surprise call-up to captaincy to keep Australia’s Davis Cup title hopes alive with a nail-biting victory over American Ben Shelton in Spain.

Kokkinakis saved four match points before finally converting at the sixth of his own in a thrilling and crucial 6-1 4-6 7-6 (16-14) win in Australia’s opening quarter-final singles match in Malaga.

But Alex de Minaur lost the second draw 6-3, 6-4 to Talor Fritz to set up a doubles decider between Australian pair Jordan Thompson and Matt Ebden and Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.

Alex de Minaur congratulates Taylor Fritz on his victory. Photo: Jose Ignacio Viseras/GTRES/REX/Shutterstock

Captain Lleyton Hewitt pulled off a selection surprise, choosing Kokkinakis to lead Australia into Thursday’s action ahead of higher-ranked Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson.

With title glory in Montreal in August, Popyrin became the first Australian since Hewitt in 2003 to win a Masters 1000 crown, before beating Novak Djokovic at the US Open four weeks later.

Thompson has also cracked the world top 30 for the first time with his own breakout season.

But for better or worse, Hewitt continued to back Kokkinakis despite being more than 50 places lower than both Popyrin and Thompson.

Kokkinakis was fresh off winning the ATP Challenger Tour event at the NSW Open 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 quarter-final cup tie.

Kokkinakis’ win gave world No. 9 Alex de Minaur the chance to send Australia to a third straight Davis Cup semi-final with a win over fifth seed Taylor Fritz in the second singles match.

But in a repeat of last week’s ATP Finals group stage in Turin, when Fritz defeated de Minaur, the American triumphed to level the head-to-head record at 5-5.

Chasing a first Davis Cup title since 2003, Australia are seeking to reach a third successive final after losing to Canada and Italy in the past two deciders.

Kokkinakis showed his captain’s confidence to get through the opening set in 22 minutes, breaking Shelton three times.