Australia has secured a valuable 2-1 victory against France in the opening group stage match of the Davis Cup in Valencia, extending their head-to-head lead to 13-5 against the European nation.
Asked to replace the injured Alex de Minaur, world No.78 Thanasi Kokkinakis proved again that he loves playing for his country, securing his first top-30 victory of his Davis Cup career against Arthur Fils.
Not much in it from start to finish, two tiebreaks were required as Kokkinakis handled the big points better to come away with a 7-6(4), 7-6(3) win.
“Arthur is a great player, he’s going to be leading the French team for a while, so I knew it was a tough challenge,” Kokkinakis said.
“I just tried to hang in there and I think I played steady on the big moments. There wasn’t much in it.”
Despite de Minaur's cruel injury, the former world No.6 is watching from the sidelines to show his leadership and support.
“We had to try put up a couple of wins for him,” Kokkinakis said. “He’s injured and can’t play, but is still here supporting. It’s good to have him here, even if it’s just on the sidelines.”
The battle of the singles top seeds went the way of Ugo Humbert in somewhat surprising fashion, given Alexei Popyrin's sensational past four weeks including a Masters 1000 title and a victory against Novak Djokovic at the US Open.
Popyrin struggled to hit through the Frenchman, converting just five winners in a 6-3, 6-2 defeat to level the tie.
“He played some inspired tennis and didn’t let me into the match,” Popyrin said after the match. “I felt like he was reading every single serve. Whether I slowed it down or sped it up, he was on it. When you play someone like that, who is painting the lines and reading your weapons, it’s quite difficult.”
For the third year in succession, Australia's depth in the doubles would bail out the green and gold, as top-8 doubles players Matt Ebden and Max Purcell outlasted Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.
The experienced French duo saved a match point in the second set to force a decider and keep the Aussies on their toes, but Ebden and Purcell, former Wimbledon doubles champions in 2022, were a class above.
“We were unlucky not to get the second [set], but we knew we just had to reset and play another good set,” Ebden said.
Australia next faces Czechia on Thursday (midnight AEST) and a Spanish team led by four-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday (7pm AEST) all live on Channel 9.
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