World No.23 Alexei Popyrin heads captain Lleyton Hewitt’s five-man crew for the Davis Cup Last 8 at Malaga in November.
24 September 2024 | tennis.com.au with AAP
Alexei Popyrin will spearhead the identical five-man Davis Cup occasion that battled by way of the group stage earlier this month in Australia’s daunting quarter-final in opposition to the US in November.
Ought to Hewitt’s males come previous that impediment holders Italy, led by world No.1 Jannik Sinner, is in line to bar their path to a 3rd successive remaining.
Jordan Thompson, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden make up Australia’s quintet for the Malaga climax, with the crew eager to finish a drought that now dates again greater than 20 years to 2003, when present crew captain Hewitt was enjoying.
> READ MORE: Australia qualifies for November’s Davis Cup Last 8
It’s a sturdy unit, with Popyrin – an ATP Masters 1000 champion in Montreal and Novak Djokovic’s vanquisher on the US Open – and Thompson each ranked within the high 30 whereas Purcell and Ebden are Grand Slam doubles winners respectively ranked fifth and eighth on this planet. There are nonetheless hopes singles world No.11 De Minaur may return.
“He’s going to do the whole lot to get again as shortly as doable,” Hewitt mentioned final week, including the pair was nonetheless working by way of a restoration schedule.
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Bob Bryan’s US quintet options three top-20 singles gamers: Taylor Fritz (world No.7), Tommy Paul (No.13) and Ben Shelton (No.17) plus two top-30 doubles gamers Rajeev Ram (No.10) and Austin Krajicek (No.28).
The eye of the broader world could also be on the opposite half of the draw as Spain has named each Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal, elevating the prospect they might reprise their Paris Olympics ‘Nadalcaraz’ partnership, although captain David Ferrer additionally has world doubles No.1 Marcel Granollers in his choice.
> READ MORE: Popyrin victorious in Australia’s slender Davis Cup loss to Spain
AUSTRALIAN SQUAD (for Davis Cup Finals, Malaga, Spain, 19-24 November): Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Max Purcell, Matthew Ebden. Captain: Lleyton Hewitt.
Quarterfinals: Australia v United States, Italy v Argentina, Spain v Netherlands, Canada v Germany.