Alex de Minaur and Lleyton Hewitt handed brutal twist amid $4m quest for Davis Cup glory

Alex de Minaur will likely have to defy history if Australia are to progress to the Davis Cup final, with the Aussies drawn to face Italy in Malaga. On Saturday at 11pm AEDT, Australia will be out to seek revenge on the nation that prevented them from becoming Davis Cup champions, for a place in the championship decider and the chance to take home a share of the $4 million in prize money on offer.

On Thursday, in a meeting between the two most successful nations in the tournament's history, the USA and Australia, Thanasi Kokkinakis saved four match points to edge American Ben Shelton in a 30-point third-set tie-break to put the Aussies ahead with a 6-1 4-6 7-6 (16-14) victory after two hours and 17 minutes. But American World No.4 Taylor Fritz defeated de Minaur to send the tie to a decider. Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson held their nerves to send Australia, runners-up in the past two editions, through to the last four with a straight-set win over Shelton and Tommy Paul.

The doubles triumph sent 28-time champions Australia into the nation's third successive Davis Cup semi-final and the Aussie duo celebrated with a chest bump before embracing team captain Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt, who was part of Australia's last Davis Cup winning team in 2003, said following the win: "We've got a rich history in this competition. These boys know it's a great honour every time you get the chance to wear the green and gold out here.

"We've had a group of six guys that have really put their hands up the last three or four years now. They've gelled together well and I'm just super proud of the whole team as a collective."

Italy awaits Australia in Davis Cup semi final

But Australia have a big task ahead of them, drawing up against tournament favourites and current Davis Cup holders Italy, who beat Argentina 2-1 in the semis. An in-form Sinner won the ATP Finals title on Sunday to cap a year in which he also won the first two grand slam titles of his career before turning up to the Davis Cup.

He arrived in Turin just two days after his latest triumph and swept past Argentinian Sebastian Baez with ease 6-2 6-1. In the other singles match Lorenzo Musetti fell to Francisco Cerundolo 6-4 6-1 before Sinner teamed up with Matteo Berrettini to get the job done in the doubles match, beating Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4 7-5 to set up a date with Australia.

Sinner has been close to unbeatable in recent months and it will almost certainly be de Minaur given the task of trying to topple him on Saturday. The Aussie has a 0-8 career record against the World No.1 and just two weeks ago was beaten comprehensively by the Italian 6-3, 6-4.

Following that defeat de Minaur admitted he knew he would struggle to beat the World No.1 as he is so far ahead of the competition at the moment. “I knew I had my work cut out,” said De Minaur. “I thought I started well, then I kind of slipped away. I just couldn't sustain the level that I needed today to beat Jannik.

“His ball speed, in my eyes, is so much higher than basically the rest of the people. From both sides he's solid. He keeps on improving. He's improved his serve so much throughout the years." However, if de Minaur fails to end his hoodoo against the World No.1, Australia will then have to win both games to progress to the Davis Cup final.

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Lleyton Hewitt to stick with Thanasi Kokkinakis again?

Against the US, Hewitt again decided to go with Kokkinakis in the opening singles rubber, despite having the option to use two other players who are ranked higher than the World No.77. Alexei Popyrin (World No.24) and Jordan Thompson (26) would appear to be better options on paper, but Hewitt continues to show faith in Kokkinakis - who keeps on delivering at Davis Cup level. And he will likely again be given the nod again against Italy and appears most likely to go toe-to-toe with Musetti.

If things are then all tied up, it will then come down to experienced Aussie doubles duo Ebden and Thompson against most likely Sinner and Berrettini. And while Australia's Davis Cup captain Hewitt said he is confident his team can get it done admits it is a tall task to avenge their loss from last year. "We'll be up for the challenge — but it's not going to be any easier than it was last year, either," said Hewitt.

The other semi-final will see Germany do battle with the Netherlands for a place in Sunday's final (Monday Aussie time). Australia have finished runners-up for the last two years and they haven't won the prestigious Davis Cup trophy since 2003, despite winning it 28 times throughout its history.

with agencies