Tennis: Thanasi Kokkinakis completes Australia’s Davis Cup escape with win over Hungary’s Zsombor Piros
Australia won the last two singles matches to avoid a shock defeat to Hungary in their Davis Cup qualifier in Sydney.
Thanasi Kokkinakis’ storybook redemption from tennis oblivion has another chapter.
Written off as a top-flight prospect after spending six years outside the top 100 dealing with repeated injuries, the comeback kid is now Australia’s latest Davis Cup hero.
Kokkinakis completed Australia’s escape in Sydney on Saturday night with a 6-46-4victory over Hungarian Zsombor Piros, after a shock doubles defeat left the host nation in danger of being eliminated.
The proud moment sits alongside Kokkinakis’ 2022 Australian Open doubles title with Nick Kyrgios and breakthrough Adelaide tournament win a fortnight earlier in what’s been a remarkable year.
“I couldn’t have asked for more to start the year,” Kokkinakis said.
“ Davis Cup is so different. In those singles tournaments, ATPs, you’re playing for yourself. Here, it feels like you’ve got the whole country backing you and supporting you.
“It’s a different type of pressure, but it’s something that if we want to play how we want to play on the big stage, you’ve got to get used to. To have this support is unreal, so to play at home was sick.”
Lleyton Hewitt’s men advance to the Davis Cup finals thanks to the 3-2 triumph, which owes plenty to two Alex de Minaur singles wins.
The second of them saved the tie, with Australia’s spearhead outlasting Hungarian No.1 Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in a high-quality encounter bursting with pressure.
The 23-year-old faced the only break points in the first set and was 3-0 and 4-2 down in the tie-break before producing a typically gritty and lion-hearted effort to overrun the world No.35.
Dual grand slam champion Hewitt embraced de Minaur right after the match in a sign of the importance of the result.
“Alex was unbelievable out there today, unbelievable,” Hewitt said.
“I told him at the end of the match today, ‘That was all heart, mate’. The scoreline of 7-6 6-4 does not say how close that match was.
“He laid it all on the line for his country and he deserves this more than anybody.”
As Hewitt mentioned, there was nothing straightforward about de Minaur’s victory, with Fucsovics briefly threatening to force a final set after the Australian jumped out to a 3-0 second-set lead.
Barely 20 minutes later – once Fucsovics hung tough in consecutive 10-minute service games to get on the board – de Minaur was break point down at three-all.
But no-one is more passionate about Davis Cup among Australia’s current crop than de Minaur, who thrived on the opportunity to be his nation’s saviour.
The former world No.15 did as he does best, absorbing the pressure then wearing his rival down with trademark physical tennis.
de Minaur finally landed the killer blow on his fourth match point after Fucsovics saved the first three with brilliant strikes.
Kokkinakis then put the finishing touches on Australia’s success against 240th-ranked Piros, a Davis Cup specialist who upset Marin Cilic and John Millman at the finals of last year’s event.
He snatched breaks of serve early in both sets to remove a chunk of the tension as he overpowered the young Hungarian in a composed display.
A ninth Kokkinakis ace sealed the deal for him and Australia.
The Kokkinakis and de Minaur wins spared Australia’s blushes after John Peers and Luke Saville suffered a shock 6-4 6-4 loss to unheralded Mate Valkusz and Fabian Marozsan to kick off Saturday’s play.
Peers double-faulted on match point to drop serve to love and seal defeat, after uncharacteristically also being broken three times in the opening set.
Demon breathes life into Aussie Davis Cup hopes
Alex de Minaur has produced one of his greatest career victories to drag Australia back from the brink of Davis Cup elimination on Saturday.
The country’s top-ranked man never wastes an opportunity to lavish praise on Australia’s past greats but is well on the way to joining them.
de Minaur walked onto Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena on Saturday to face Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics knowing he had to win to keep alive Australia’s hopes of qualifying for the Davis Cup finals.
He faced the only break points in the first set and was 4-2 down in the tie-break before producing a typically gritty and lion-hearted effort to overrun the world No.35 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 to send the tie to a deciding fifth rubber.
“It means a lot. Obviously, it was a must-win but the job’s not done,” de Minaur said.
“I managed to keep us in here and this Aussie team has got to do everything to leave it all out there on court.
“We’ve got immense pride, immense passion and one thing you can count on from the Davis Cup team is we’re never going to give up.”
It was a performance his team captain and dual grand slam champion Lleyton Hewitt, who spent the match urging him on from the sidelines, would have been proud of.
Thanasi Kokkinakis now has the chance to be Australia’s hero in his first Davis Cup tie in more than six years when he locks horns with 240th-ranked Zsombor Piros.
Either Kokkinakis or Piros will send their respective country into the end-of-year Davis Cup finals.
There was nothing straightforward about de Minaur’s win, with Fucsovics briefly threatening to force a final set after the Australian jumped out to a 3-0 second-set lead.
Barely 20 minutes later – once Fucsovics hung tough in consecutive 10-minute service games to get on the board – de Minaur was break point down at three-all.
But no-one is more passionate about Davis Cup among Australia’s current crop than de Minaur, who thrived on the opportunity to be his nation’s saviour.
The former world No.15 did as he does best, absorbing the pressure then wearing his rival down with trademark physical tennis.
de Minaur finally landed the killer blow on his fourth match point after Fucsovics saved the first three with brilliant strikes.
John Peers and Luke Saville’s shock straight-sets doubles defeat to unheralded Hungarian pairing Mate Valkusz and Fabian Marozsan earlier on Saturday left Australia in a precarious position.
But de Minaur’s heroic display has not only given Australia a pulse but restored the host country’s favouritism in a tie
Aussies on the brink of shock Davis Cup defeat
Australia is on the brink of a stunning Davis Cup defeat after Hungary’s shock doubles victory put the visitors one win away from qualifying for the finals.
John Peers and debutant Luke Saville were heavily favoured to give Australia a 2-1 lead, especially once Hungary’s No.1 player Marton Fucsovics pulled out to focus on singles.
But there’s never such a thing as a certainty in the Davis Cup cauldron, which is famous for bringing the best out of seemingly overmatched underdogs.
Fucsovics’ 1312th-ranked replacement, Mate Valkusz, partnered Fabian Marozsan to a stunning 6-4 6-4 victory over the Aussie pairing at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.
Peers double-faulted on match point to drop serve to love and seal defeat, after uncharacteristically being broken three times in the opening set.
He also dumped an overhead into the net on the point previous on what was a rare down day for the world’s ninth-ranked doubles player and it could prove costly.
Peers and Saville don’t play together on the regular tour but proved a formidable pairing for Australia at this year’s ATP Cup at the same venue.
But they struggled from the outset on Saturday, with Peers dropping serve in the second game to leave Australia 2-0 down and already playing catch up.
They twice broke back in the first set but another Peers break saw them go a set down.
Alex de Minaur and Thanasi Kokkinakis must now win both of the remaining singles contests for Australia to escape and return to the Davis Cup finals.
Kokkinakis will be a significant favourite in a potential fifth rubber against 240th-ranked Zsombor Piros but Fucsovics has the chance to clinch the tie against de Minaur.
They played a three-set epic in last year’s Davis Cup finals in Italy, with the Australian outlasting the world No.35 7-5 2-6 7-6 (7-2).
de Minaur set the scene for another titanic clash when he spoke about the Fucsovics rematch after his 7-5 6-2 defeat of Piros on Friday night.
“Before the tie started, that’s the match a lot of people were waiting for,” de Minaur said.
“It’s great. We had a battle last Davis Cup and now we get to do it again. We go out there; we’re both playing for pride and passion and our countries ... let the best man win.”
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