Thanasi Kokkinakis made it two wins from two matches at the Davis Cup to steer his team to a win over Czech Republic and a step closer to November’s finals.
Having been asked to step up by team captain Lleyton Hewitt after an injury forced Alex de Minaur to withdraw, Kokkinakis took care of rising teenage star Jakub Mensik in an impressive 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 victory first-up.
The Czech challenge then crumbled after just eight minutes of the second rubber when their No 1 Tomas Machac, who had been forced to retire with cramp during his loss to Carlos Alcaraz in Wednesday’s loss against hosts Spain, again pulled out, this time with injury, against Alexei Popyrin.
After the match win, Kokkinakis said he felt the need to repay the faith show by his captain.
“Big up to Lleyton for trusting me and giving me the run. All of us could have played, that’s the beauty of tennis in Australia right now. We are all having great years,” he said.
The victory puts Australia, who were Davis Cup finalists last year, in a powerful position to reach the eight-team finals week ahead of a final tie against a Spanish team led by Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.
If Spain beats France on Friday, the Aussies’ ticket to the finals will be guaranteed. But should France steamroll the hosts, and Australia loses 3-0, the dream could be killed off.
Source: The Australian.
