Never-say-die Alex de Minaur has once again delivered a Davis Cup tour de force to keep Australia in the hunt to reach the semi-finals in Malaga.
The Aussie No.1 had to come from a set down and was left staring at a tie-losing straight-sets loss to the Czech Republic’s inspired Jiri Lehecka in Wednesday’s quarter-final.
But the Spanish-based de Minaur, cheered on by a hugely impressed local crowd – including his own mum – somehow conjured up a 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 triumph to level the tie at one rubber apiece after Jordan Thompson had lost the opener for Lleyton Hewitt’s side.
It meant that, once again, Australian hopes were set to rest on the 2022 Wimbledon winners Max Purcell and Matt Ebden, who can set up a last-four meeting with Finland by winning the decisive doubles against Lehecka and Adam Pavlasek.
After Thompson had been swept aside 6-4 7-5 in the opening rubber by rising 23-year-old Tomas Machac on a fast indoor hard court at the Palacio de deportes Martin Carpena, de Minaur looked to be heading the same way as he was asked to perform a familiar rescue act.
But the 22-year-old Lehecka’s power and accuracy seemed irresistible for much of the match and there appeared no way back for de Minaur as the young Czech served for a straight-sets blowout at 5-4 in the second.
Remarkably, de Minaur, who now has an extraordinary Davis Cup record of winning 10 of his last 12 singles, found yet more resolve, mixing brilliant defending with a daring attacking to win the next 10 points on the trot before going on to dominate the tiebreak.
When de Minaur went two games up in the final set, he looked poised to dominate the seemingly flagging Lehecka, but the world No.31 rebounded brilliantly, looking poised to reel off four games on the bounce until de Minaur saved three break points at 2-3.
Utter determination, despite his evident weariness, dragged the Aussie through in a magnificent contest, as he earned a break in the 11th game of the stanza that was to prove crucial.
“I don’t know,” shrugged the exhausted de Minaur, when asked on court how he’d prevailed in the two-and-a-half hour scrap.
“Ultimately, it’s always going to be tough. You’re always going to be in a very dark places in matches but maybe I’ve got that reputation of never giving up and I’m competing to the end.”
Hewitt had plumped for the experience of Thompson in the opening singles, despite the claims of the higher-ranked Purcell and Alexei Popyrin, who had been drafted in to replace the injured Thanasi Kokkinakis.
But Machac, 22 places below ‘Tommo’ in the world rankings, was in scintillating form from the outset as he broke in the opening game to set out his stall.
One of the form players on tour over the past couple of months, Machac retained the extra firepower that constantly had the Sydneysider on the retreat as he couldn’t handle the 26 winners from the 23-year-old.
Hewitt’s men are hoping to go one better than last year when they reached the final against the Canadians as they seek to lift the ‘World Cup of men’s tennis’ for the first time in 20 years.
