Australia end 19-year-old draught for Davis Cup final, defeat Croatia in semis
Nov 26, 2022
Malaga [Spain], November 26 : Australia ended their 19-year draught, after a resilient comeback to reach the Final of the Davis Cup, ousting 2021 finalists Croatia in a thrilling encounter in Malaga.
The win saw Australian players celebrating wildly after a thrilling comeback win for Australia over two-time champions Croatia.
Australian ace tennis star Alex de Minaur outraced the experienced Marin Cilic, to tie the match at 1-1 in the second semifinal.
After Borna Coric had defeated Aussie tennis player Thanasi Kokkinakis, De Minaur dominated his singles match against Cilic, breaking the World No. 17's serve four times for a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
Then, in the doubles round, Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson put on an incredible serving performance against Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic to give their country a 2-1 victory and secure its first appearance at the Davis Cup final since 2003.
"It's been a long time. Obviously, we are a very proud Davis Cup nation. I'm just thrilled for these boys, they deserve to go out there and get the opportunity to play in the final of a Davis Cup, and now it's going to happen on Sunday," said Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt after his team's victory as quoted by atptour.com.
Hewitt participated in his nation's previous Davis Cup final appearance, a triumph against Spain in Melbourne in 2003. In the final on Sunday, Australia will either play Italy or Canada in an effort to win the Davis Cup for the 29th time.
In a boisterous setting in southern Spain, Purcell and Thompson defeated 14-time tour-level champions Mektic and Pavic 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4.
After Coric had earlier pushed Croatia ahead with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Kokkinakis, that win sealed the turnaround victory.
"There's nothing like it, honestly, there's nothing like it. That's the best thing I've ever experienced ever. Anything for the green and gold, honestly," said Purcell after his and Thompson's dramatic two-hour, 14-minute victory.
"We were [just] holding serve. I feel like we did a good job of that. The opportunities weren't coming, but we hung in there and eventually we did get a couple of opportunities and we took them on the first go each time. Doubles can change so quickly, and it did," added Thompson.
