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De Minaur to lead Australia in Davis Cup's round of 16

3 minute read

Skipper Lleyton Hewitt has overlooked the nation's new No.2 tennis player Aleksandar Vukic for Australia's Davis Cup finals in Manchester next month.

ALEX DE MINAUR of Australia plays a backhand during The Wimbledon at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England.
ALEX DE MINAUR of Australia plays a backhand during The Wimbledon at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England. Picture: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

World No.12 Alex de Minaur will spearhead Australia's Davis Cup finals charge as Lleyton Hewitt's men bid to go one better than last year's runner-up showing.

Hewitt on Tuesday announced his team for the round-of-16 stage, with Jordan Thompson, Max Purcell, Thanasi Kokkinakis and doubles star Matt Ebden to join de Minaur in Manchester, England, from September 12-17.

Australia have been drawn in Group B alongside Great Britain, France and Switzerland and will need to finish in the top two in the pool at the AO Arena to advance to the quarter-finals in Malaga, Spain, from November 21-26.

With Australia boasting eight players in the men's top 100 even without the injured Nick Kyrgios's rankings freefall, Hewitt said selecting the team for Manchester was particularly difficult.

"But that's a position that myself, (coaches Tony) Roche and 'Crabby' (Jaymon Crabb) enjoy being in," the skipper said.

"We prefer to have it that way over having limited players to choose from."

With such depth, Hewitt and company could find no room for Australian No.2 Aleksandar Vukic, the world No.48, the 58th-ranked Alexei Popyrin or in-form Chris O'Connell and Jason Kubler.

But De Minaur's selection was a no-brainer after the 24-year-old reached his fourth final of the season, and maiden ATP Masters 1000 title decider, on Sunday in Toronto.

Despite losing to Italy's Jannik Sinner in that match, De Minaur will arrive in New York for the year's final grand slam, the US Open, full of confidence and with a career-high ranking following two finals in as many weeks.

"Alex de Minaur has played some of his best tennis in Davis Cup, so we're very fortunate to have him spearheading us again," Hewitt said.

"He's come off a fantastic run in Toronto.

"Jordan Thompson played some really good tennis in Washington only a couple of weeks ago on the hard courts. But also he played one of his best matches (against) Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon.

"Max Purcell, he's another player who can play singles or doubles. He's had some big wins in singles this year and got his ranking into a position where he can play all the big tournaments.

"We all know what a quality doubles player he is as well.

"Thanasi Kokkinakis, another fantastic ball striker who is capable of playing a lot better tennis than where his ranking's at. He has the fire power to put a lot of players under pressure.

"And Matt Ebden has played a lot of big matches for us."

Australia were runners-up to Canada last year in their best result since lifting the trophy in 2003 with Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis, Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs.

"We're in a really tough group in Manchester," Hewitt said.

"They're all quality teams and we're going to have to be on our game in every single match and every rubber against all three nations."

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