Alex de Minaur gamble backfires on Lleyton Hewitt as $4 million goes begging at Davis Cup

One of Lleyton Hewitt's greatest traits is the loyalty he shows in his Australian tennis players. But it backfired in the Davis Cup semi-final against Italy on Saturday night as the Aussies crashed out and missed their chance to play for the $4 million prize money.

Hewitt stuck solid with Alex de Minaur and Thanasi Kokkinakis in the singles, despite de Minaur having a woeful record against Jannik Sinner and Kokkinakis being ranked much lower than teammates Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson. And it came back to bite the Aussie captain as Kokkinakis lost 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 5-7 to Matteo Berrettini, before de Minaur went down 3-6 4-6 to Sinner.

It marked de Minaur's ninth loss against the World No.1 in nine career match-ups, begging the question as to why Hewitt didn't switch things up. Hewitt opted to keep Popyrin sidelined, despite the fact he's enjoyed a remarkable year and actually has a winning record (1-0) against Sinner.

"It's bloody tough for all the boys," Hewitt said after Australia's run was ended in the semi-finals. "They put in a lot of effort to give themselves a chance to be here and come so close again. Thanasi left it all out there. Yeah, there's a couple points in it. Berrettini played a fantastic match."

Tennis fans have questioned why Hewitt didn't opt to use Popyrin or Thompson against Sinner, who completely owns de Minaur and is now 9-0 against the World No.9. And the decision to stay loyal to Kokkinakis has also come in for some criticism considering the World No.77 is ranked over 50 places lower than both Popyrin (24) and Thompson (26).

Kokkinakis looked well on his way to another remarkable win at Davis Cup level, after saving four match points to beat Ben Shelton of the USA in the quarter-finals. But the crowd in Malaga willed Berrettini off the canvas, and the Italian came back to win.

"We're in Spain," Kokkinakis said, "but it felt like we were in Italy. It was a tough match. He served incredible. 89 per cent in the third set and it didn't give me much of a chance to look in. I regret a game I played in the second set where I lost a little bit of focus to get broken. I lost my concentration for a little bit in the third set."

Lleyton Hewitt should have chosen to bench Alex de Minaur

De Minaur hasn't been at full fitness since suffering a hip injury at Wimbledon and was once again no match for the irrepressible Sinner. "Well, it's like trying to solve a puzzle that not a lot of people have managed to solve," he shrugged.

"That's probably the best way I would describe it. It feels like he comes out, he's solid, he plays well. In the big moments he steps it up. He's just a very tough player to play against this year, as many other opponents have definitely felt that."

In the end, you can't keep doing the same thing and getting the same undesirable result. And that's why Hewitt should have opted to bench de Minaur for the crucial tie. De Minaur is World No.9 and has enjoyed the best year of his tennis career to date. He lives and breathes Davis Cup and would run through a brick wall for Hewitt and his country.

But the 25-year-old is no match for Sinner - and a career head-to-head record of 9-0 in Sinner's favour shows exactly why. Dating back to 2019 when they first played at the Next Gen ATP Finals, de Minaur has never beaten Sinner in nine attempts, and has only ever won a single set against the Italian.

Sinner has won in straight-sets in their last seven matches, including at the ATP Finals earlier this month when de Minaur was once again trounced 6-3 6-4. Sinner appears to know de Minaur's game inside-and-out, and exactly how to take him down.

The Aussies are 28-time champions in the prestigious Davis Cup, but haven't won it since 2003. They made the final in the previous two editions, but lost to Canada and Italy in 2022 and 2023.

Axing de Minaur would have likely broken Hewitt's heart considering how close they are. Hewitt has become a mentor and unofficial coach for de Minaur in the last few years, and de Minaur is extremely close with Hewitt's family - especially wife Bec and son Cruz.

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Italy to play Netherlands in Davis Cup final

Italy will now play the Netherlands in Sunday night's final. The Dutch beat Germany 2-0 in the first semi-final, with Botic van de Zandschulp beating Daniel Altmaier 6-4 6-7 (12-14) 6-3 before Tallon Griekspoor came from behind to take down Jan-Lennard Struff 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-4.

It marks the first time in the 124 years of Davis Cup that Netherlands have made the final. "Finals are a huge privilege to be a part of - Sunday is a final and I'm very happy to be here in this position," said Sinner.

"Winning would mean so much for us, not only for the win but because it would mean we defended our title. If we don't, it's still an amazing achievement, we showed it was not lucky last year, we're here because we are an amazing team."