‘Fantastic’: Special K steals Davis Cup show

Thanasi Kokkinakis made it two wins from two matches as Alex de Minaur’s Davis Cup replacement to steer his team to a win over Czech Republic and a step closer to November’s finals.

After Kokkinakis opened the clash in Valencia with a three-sets win, Australia’s top-ranked player, Alexei Popyrin, was only on court for eight minutes when his opponent, Czech No.1 Tomas Machac, pulled out with an injury.

That sealed the crucial group stage win for captain Lleyton Hewitt’s men, who made it a clean sweep with another doubles win for dynamic duo Matt Ebden and Max Purcell, who took their Davis Cup record together to 8-1 with a straight sets victory.

Having been asked to step up by Hewitt after an injury forced de Minaur to withdraw, Kokkinakis, chosen ahead of higher-ranked teammate Jordan Thompson, took care of rising teenage star Jakub Mensik in an impressive 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 victory first-up.

“Thanasi was fantastic in the first match,” Hewitt said.

“It was how he responded when challenged, which was so impressive to me. Really proud of his effort; fantastic to back up from a couple of days ago as well. That’s going to give him the world of belief in himself.

Kokkinakis said he felt the need to repay the faith show by his captain.

“To step up and get two points on the board is massive,” he said.

“Big up to Lleyton for trusting me and giving me the run. All of us could have played, that’s the beauty of tennis in Australia right now. We are all having great years.”

The victory puts Australia, who were Davis Cup finalists last year, in a powerful position to reach the eight-team finals week ahead of a final tie against a Spanish team led by Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.

If Spain beats France on Friday, the Aussies’ ticket to the finals will be guaranteed.

But should France steamroll the hosts, and Australia loses 3-0, the dream could be killed off.

“There is a bit to play out over the next couple of days with the other teams and we will see where that lands, but we can only do what we can control and we will get ready to give our best effort on Sunday and see what the situation is,” Hewitt said.

“As I said when I first got here, I had full belief in the five players I have got in the team and I still absolutely do. I am so proud of them and their efforts and what they have put themselves through in a really tough calendar as well.

“It is not easy on the back of a grand slam and a couple of the boys obviously got here extremely late. The team camaraderie is incredible and they feed off each other and we are getting the results on the back of that.”