Australia rallied to reach the Davis Cup semifinals after being eliminated in the first round. Australia came from behind to overcome the Czech Republic 2-1 on Wednesday, advancing to the final four for the second year. Alex De Minaur came back from a set and a breakdown to keep Australia alive, while Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden won the deciding doubles match to set up a Friday meeting with Finland.
In the opening singles match, Tomas Machac defeated Jordan Thompson 6-4, 7-5, but De Minaur overcame Jiri Lehecka 4-6, 7-6 (2) 7-5, and Purcell and Ebden, the 2022 Wimbledon winners, completed the comeback by defeating Adam Pavlasek and Lehecka 6-4, 7-5 in the doubles. Also read: Council Rejected Wimbledon’s plan for expansion
“I prided myself on a never-say-die attitude, and he’s certainly in the same category,” Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt said of De Minaur. “For him to go out there and put the boys on his back again, we’re so proud of him. He had to dig really deep and yet again he saved us.”
De Minaur, the top-ranked Australian and world No. 12, broke back at 3-5 in the second set and forced a tiebreaker. He then broke serve at 5-5 in the deciding set before sealing the victory with four consecutive games.
“It would have been quite easy for me to roll over under the circumstances, but that’s just not the type of player I am,” the 24-year-old said. “I have had plenty of these types of matches in my career. It’s part of my identity. I’m not going to give up. I’m going to fight until the end.” Also read: Davis Cup Winners List And Winning Prize Money
Thompson’s service was broken once in the first set and twice in the second, including at 5-5, before Machac won the match in first singles. Purcell and Ebden won the doubles match by breaking service once in each set.
“These two, what they just did, let’s not take it for granted,” Hewitt said. “That was massive effort, not knowing if they were coming out here or not, riding the ups and downs of the first two matches and then coming out and putting on a clinic like that, it was bloody impressive.”
On Tuesday, Finland defeated reigning champion Canada 2-1. Australia fell to Canada in the final last year after overcoming Croatia in the semifinals. In Thursday’s quarterfinals, Novak Djokovic’s Serbia will meet an injured Great Britain, while Italy will face the Netherlands. The second semifinal will take place on Saturday, followed by the final on Sunday. Also read: Finland Defeated Canada To Reach The Davis Cup Semifinals