Aussies defy ‘ridiculous’ schedule for Davis Cup dream

The Australian Davis Cup team should be bolstered by the return of world No.11 Alex de Minaur for a third straight shot at the title having secured passage November’s eight-team showdown despite a final round loss to Spain in Valencia and a “ridiculous” playing schedule.

Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt lauded the effort of his men to defy the programming, with many players racing from the US Open in New York for the first tie last week, to give themselves the opportunity for Davis Cup redemption having been runners-up for the past two years, to Canada and Italy.

“We’ve had a few guys this week pretty banged up – and it’s only really our locker room knows that,” Hewitt said.

“It would have been very easy for a few of my boys to not turn up this week, but they’ve come and they put on the green and gold, and done absolutely everything I’ve asked of them. I’m super proud.

“To try and ask players to play the second day after a grand slam finishes, it’s not easy.

“In the old [weekend only] format, I used to have to do it, but you’d at least have until the Friday before you had to play. Now to play on Tuesday, it’s ridiculous.

“But the format is what it is, and we’ll do what we need to do to get through and give ourselves a chance of hopefully holding up the trophy.”

Australia won its opening two ties in Valencia against first France and the Czech Republic, as did Spain.

With both sides’ place in the finals already safely booked, Alexei Popyrin recorded Australia’s only win in the 2-1 loss to Spain, as captain Hewitt gave Jordan Thompson his first taste of singles, replacing Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Spain rested superstar Carlos Alcaraz at Pabellon Fuente de San Luis, and Thompson served for the match in the opening rubber, only to go down 2-6 6-2 7-6 (7-3) to veteran Spanish substitute, the much lower ranked Pablo Carreno Busta.

But Popyrin, who lost his match in the French tie, and was given a walkover against Czechia, flexed his muscles against Pedro Martinez with a comprehensive 6-4 6-4 victory to set up a doubles decider.

“The first match that I played I was a bit amped up on nerves and a bit emotional,” Popyrin told daviscup.com.

“I tried to calm it down and feel the way I normally feel on court. I think towards the end I balanced it out and behaved the way I normally do on court.”

Unbeaten in the tie to that point, Aussie pair Matt Ebden and Max Purcell won the opening set but then succumbed to the fired-up home team in front of a vocal crowd.

Led by Spain’s 38-year-old world doubles No.1 Marcel Granollers, playing with Martinez, the duo rallied to record a remarkable 5-7 6-4 6-4 win to close out the tie.