Alex de Minaur ready to lead Australian Davis Cup finals campaign in Spain
A flurry of big late season matches for Alex de Minaur sparked injury concerns but he brushed them off seeking to end Australia’s 20-year Davis Cup drought.
Alex de Minaur declared himself “fit and ready” to help Australia’s Davis Cup cause as captain Lleyton Hewitt outlined his burning desire for change to the finals set-up which demanded some of his team “come all the way” to Spain at the end of a long year.
Having bowed out of his maiden ATP finals appearance without a win, and seemingly still dealing with a lingering hip issue, Australian No.1 de Minaur was a late addition to the team adamant his body was “holding up”.
Australia will take on the USA in their opening tie on Thursday night, looking to make a thirds straight Davis Cup final, with one of de Minaur;s ATP finals conquerors, Taylor Fritz, also fronting up after making a made dash from Italy along with finals winner Jannik Sinner.
Despite the bulk load, de Minaur didn’t want to miss representing his country.
“Yeah, look, I’m very happy to be back here,” he said.
“Obviously it’s been a tough year with injuries, but I am feeling a lot better, and I’m feeling quite fit and ready to compete.
“So obviously if my body was holding up, I was always going to put my hand up and be ready to come here and play for Australia.
Thanasi Kokkinakis is one of the players who has made the long trip to Spain, having won a Challenger Tour event in Sydney at the end of October.
“Yeah, it’s been an interesting schedule. I have decided to play, but sometimes opportunities come along, and you just got to take them,” he said.
“One thing is for sure, I’m fresh. I haven’t had too much miles under the legs the last sort of month or so. I’m good to go. If I get called upon, I’m good to go.”
Alexei Popyrin, after a career-best year, is likely to take the second singles slot with de Minaur in Australia’s opening match in Malaga.
Hewitt has been a strong advocate for reverting back to the old home and away system of Davis Cup ties, having played all their qualifying matches in the UK to make the finals.
He once again voiced his desire for Australia to host the finals given the strong Davis Cup history.
“I think there has been some mistakes made in the last few years,” he said.
“But for me, I think, yeah, we’d really like to hopefully host the Finals, as well. We’d like to get the opportunity to put a bid in for next year to be able to host the Finals in
Australia. I think we deserve that. I have been working extremely hard with the Federation to be able to give us that opportunity.
“It’s frustrating for these guys to always have to come all the way over to Europe every single year to play in the Finals. I know how special it was for me to win Davis Cup Finals in Australia. I think we all know how good a tradition our country has in this competition for well over a hundred years. We’ll see where that lands.”
