Lleyton Hewitt set to give teenager Alex de Minaur his Davis Cup debut

LLEYTON Hewitt has reached back to the precocious start of his tennis career for Australia in deciding to pitch 18-year-old Alex de Minaur into the Davis Cup deep end.

Lleyton Hewitt passes his knowledge on to Alex de Minaur. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

LLEYTON Hewitt has reached back to the precocious start of his successful tennis career for Australia in deciding to pitch impressive 18-yeer-old Alex de Minaur into the Davis Cup deep end at Pat Rafter Arena on Friday.

De Minaur said he wanted to make the most of his “dream” Davis Cup singles debut against Germany’s world No. 5 Alexander Zverev.

Hewitt made his Davis Cup debut at 18 in a winning tie over the US in 1999 and next beat Russia’s world No. 2 Yevgeny Kafelnikov in Brisbane’s famous “potato field’’ tie.

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Lleyton Hewitt passes his knowledge on to Alex de Minaur. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

“Lleyton told me all about it (the winning tie in Boston in 1999). It’s pretty special to be playing your first tie and having a huge match to play — it’s a dream come true,” said de Minaur, chosen despite being the fifth-ranked Australian at No. 139.

Hewitt said he liked the mobile de Minaur’s game style against the tall, big hitting Zverev, choosing him rather than Australian No. 4 John Millman, who would have been playing on his home court in Brisbane.

“Alex will make the court as small as possible for Zverev,’’ Hewitt said.

“He’s had a great summer and played some of his best tennis on that court (making the semi-finals of the Brisbane International).

“There’s a lot of pressure on Zverev to get the job done. He’s the red-hot favourite and it will be interesting to see how he handles it.’’

De Minaur meets Alexander Zverev. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

Far from being daunted by the responsibility of playing the first of today’s two singles matches, De Minaur, the 109th man to be chosen to play for Australia, laughed with his teammates about the outcome of the draw.

“I wasn’t expecting any of this (at the start of the summer). There’s no greater honour than representing your country. We have a great team chemistry and push each other.

“I’ve been very happy and confident about the level I’ve played during the summer, day after day.’’

Australian No. 1 Nick Kyrgios will play the second match of the three-day tie against German No. 2 Jan-Lenard Struff, ranked No. 58.

The Courier-Mail reported that Hewitt was set to replace Jordan Thompson with Matt Ebden from his announced team of five. Ebden was announced at the draw as the doubles partner of John Peers and Thompson left out of the team.

De Minaur has Jaymon Crabb, Hewitt, and Tony Roche on his side. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

Hewitt, 36, foxed through the week over whether he would select himself for doubles.

“It was a tough decision. I hope I’ve got it right,” Hewitt said.

Zverev, 20, said he noted de Minaur’s run to the semi-finals in Brisbane and the final in Sydney last week and said he expected their match to be the “first one of many for us”.

“He will be great for Australia in the future. I have a lot of respect for him,” Zverev said.

“We all watched how good he played and how he loves playing in front of the Australian crowds.

“I’ve been dealing with pressure for quite a while now. That comes with when you are in the top 10 in the world.

“I feel I played well in Melbourne even though I lost to (South Korean Hyeon) Chung in the third round and I’m ready for it.’’

Ebden and Peers were named to play in the doubles against Germans Tim Pietz and Peter Gojowczyk, but the captains are able to make changes up to one hour before play tomorrow and Sunday.

Originally published as Lleyton Hewitt set to give teenager Alex de Minaur his Davis Cup debut