Lleyton Hewitt's call backfires amid epic Alex De Minaur drama at Davis Cup
The Aussie came under fire for his decision back in September at the Davis Cup.
Australia has won their Davis Cup quarter-final tie thanks to Alex de Minaur's heroics, despite Lleyton Hewitt's big team call backfiring against the Czech Republic. Australia were handed a huge blow this week when Thanasi Kokkinakis withdrew from the tennis tie in Spain due to an injury.
This resulted in Alexei Popyrin entering the team. He joined Jordan Thompson, Max Purcell and Matt Ebden to take on the Czech Republic in Spain. Popyrin is currently World No.40 and Australia's second-highest ranked male player.
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With de Minaur to play one singles rubber, Hewitt needed to make the call who would take on Thomas Machac. Other than Popyrin, Thompson (World No.56) and Purcell (45) were available.
Hewitt went with Thompson for his Davis Cup experience over the higher-ranked Popyrin and Purcell. But Hewitt's call didn't come to fruition as Machac won a tough two-set clash to leave Australia relying on de Minaur to deliver in a must-win clash. And things didn't start off well for the Australians in Spain.
Jiri Lehecka lifted his game against the World No.12 and took the first set as de Minaur looked out of answers. With Hewitt barracking him on, de Minaur plugged away in the second set when it appeared he was falling behind.
The bustling Aussie was 5-3 down in the second set and had Lehecka serving for the match. However, always rising when wearing the green and gold, de Minaur broke back and was able to take the tiebreak.
De Minaur produced some amazing tennis with the set tied at 5-5 before he eventually prevailed 4-6, 7-6, 7-5 and set-up the deciding tie between 2022 Wimbledon champions Ebden and Purcell against Lehecka and Adam Pavlasek.
The tennis world was in complete awe of de Minaur's comeback in Aussie colours. De Minaur reached a career-high ranking of World No.11 this year and has easily been Australia's top player without Nick Kyrgios. And fans were left gobsmacked at the Aussie's grit in the David Cup tie.
Amazingly, Ebden and Purcell won their doubles match in straight sets to hand Australia a semi-final birth in Spain. Australia will now play Finland in the semi-final and will fancy themselves to stun the tennis world.
That was epic from Alex De Minaur.
Australia 1-0 down (the great Tomas Machac winning, obvs), De Minaur a set and a break down.
Lehecka served for it in the second. Had chances in the third.
De Minaur just would not let him have it. Hewitt and Roche watching proudly.
1-1— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) November 22, 2023
Impressive how De Minaur is able to win matches he “should” have lost. The determination to keep his head in the game and continue to push forward are his biggest weapons along with his speed, consistency and return of serve.
— Tennis And Bagels Podcast OFFICIAL (@TennisAndBAGELS) November 22, 2023
You talk about players made for Davis Cup or whatever it is these days and Alex De Minaur is one of those. Massive win.
— David Coutts (@dccoutta) November 22, 2023
Gutsy!
— JPMelly (@JPMelly1) November 22, 2023
What’s up with these De Minaur comebacks this year 🔥🔥🔥
— Avi (@Avi24561464) November 22, 2023
Stayin alive, stayin alive, ha ha ha ha ... Alex De Minaur comes back from a desperate situation to beat Jiri Lehecka 46 76 75 and that's kept Australian alive in the Davis Cup. It's 1-1 with Czechia. Doubles to decide the tie.
— Craig Gabriel (@crosscourt1) November 22, 2023
Lleyton Hewitt's call backfires at Davis Cup
This isn't the first time Hewitt has opted to use a lower-ranked player in the team for a tie at the Davis Cup. Hewitt copped some flak for showing loyalty to Kokkinakis during the group stage in September. The Aussie captain opted to play Kokkinakis in their first tie against Great Britain, despite having higher-ranked players Thompson and Purcell at his disposal.
Kokkinakis went down to Jack Draper as Australia lost the tie, before he was replaced by Purcell in the second. But Hewitt produced a tactical masterstroke when he opted to bring Kokkinakis back for the all-important tie against Switzerland, which the Aussies won 3-0 to punch their ticket to the finals.
Kokkinakis repaid Hewitt's faith in spades, with the World No.74 defeating Dominic Stricker 6-3, 7-5 in the opening rubber. It snapped a run of three-consecutive Davis Cup defeats for Kokkinakis, who felt a wave of relief at finally breaking through for his country.
Can someone please explain why Lleyton Hewitt takes same players year after year whether playing well or not and also why Hijikata never gets a look in. Rinky has been playing very well and would be a good fit for doubles. Very annoying 🇦🇺
— Loulani (@rixonlou) November 22, 2023
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