Alex de Minaur in crucial new development after Lleyton Hewitt's call on playing Davis Cup

Alex de Minaur has taken a significant step forward in his bid to play in next month's Davis Cup finals after sealing a gritty win in the opening round of the Vienna Open. Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt admitted this week that de Minaur's selection for the Davis Cup would hinge on his form over the next few weeks and how well 'Demon' has recovered from a hip injury that has scuppered the back half of his season.

Hewitt conceded that 'Demon' was probably not ready to play at the European Open last week after the World No.10 suffered a shock quarter-final defeat to Hugo Gaston. But the Aussie No.1 bounced back from that setback by coming from a set down to defeat Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff 2-6 6-2 6-2 in a tense three-set tussle in his first round match in Austria.

De Minaur started slowly in the indoor hardcourt ATP 500 tournament and looked a little out of sorts after dropping the opening set. But the 25-year-old showed grit and determination to storm back into the contest and claim the next two sets to book his place in the second round - sealing victory in one hour and 42 minutes.

The World No.10 converted four of his six break points in the second and third sets and sent down an ace to close out the second stanza and set up a deciding set. De Minaur then sealed a morale-boosting victory with an overhead smash to set up a second round showdown against Italy's Flavio Cobolli, who beat Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets.

It was a welcome return to form for de Minaur, who has enjoyed a breakout season after jumping into the world's top 10 for the first time in his career. But a persistent hip injury forced Demon to withdraw from his Wimbledon quarter-final against Novak Djokavic, before the issue flared up again in his loss to Jack Draper at the same stage of the US Open.

"At the end of the day, there's no better measurements than results to see your improvement," said de Minaur, who reached a career-high No.6 in the world rankings in July. "I'm very happy with the way my level has improved this year and the types of wins I'm getting. Today was another tough one, so I'm very happy."

Alex de Minaur vying to play in ATP Finals and Davis Cup

De Minaur is still in with a shot of reaching the season-ending ATP Finals - reserved for the top-eight men's players - for the first time in his career. The Aussie is currently ninth in the Live Race To Turin, 265 points behind eighth-placed Russian Andrey Rublev. And while a deep run at the Vienna Open will strengthen his chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals, it's also crucial to his hopes of playing in the Davis Cup finals.

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Australia captain Hewitt said this week at the draw for the United Cup - in which de Minaur's Aussies were drawn against his girlfriend Katie Boulter's Great Britain - that Demon's form and fitness over the next few weeks will be key to his Davis Cup prospects. "He's still giving himself a chance for Turin and obviously the Davis Cup Finals if he's up for it," Hewitt said. "A lot depends over the next month."

The Aussie captain was adamant that de Minaur had a massive 2025 ahead of him though and predicted the 25-year-old would enjoy his best Australian Open campaign to date and finally make it past the round of 16 at his home grand slam. "Absolutely," Hewitt said about his compatriot. "The highest you get seeded, it takes out some of the dangerous players at the top of the game and you sometimes get a kinder draw.

"He certainly wants to push deeper. He's only done the round of 16 at the Australian Open and the last three majors after that this year have been quarterfinals. Fingers crossed he can tick that off and at least make the final eight."

with AAP