Australia capitalised on a depleted Czechia team to secure a commanding 3-0 sweep and sit top of the 'group of death.'
The green and gold took down France two days ago in a tight 2-1 contest, and will next face a Carlos Alcaraz-led Spain in the final group match.
Team captain Lleyton Hewitt once again trusted Thanasi Kokkinakis to open proceedings as the No.2 player, handling the ferocious power of 19-year-old Czech Jakub Menšík with maturity to win 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3.
The South Australian fired 19 aces and 31 winners to write another memorable chapter for his country.
“Big up to Lleyton for trusting me and giving me the run," said Kokkinakis. "All of us could have played, that’s the beauty of tennis in Australia right now, we’re all having great years.”
After suffering a bitterly disappointing straight-sets defeat at the hands of Frenchman Ugo Humbert, Montreal Masters champion Alexei Popyrin claimed bragging rights against Tomas Machac, but not in the way he would have hoped.
Machac was forced to retire from cramp after nine points in the first set, still recovering from a brutal match against Alcaraz earlier this week.
That ensured no pressure for prominent doubles paring Matt Ebden and Max Purcell in the dead rubber, conceding six games in a dominant showing to beat Menšík and Adam Pavlasek 6-4, 6-2, ticking one minute past the hour mark.
If Spain edges France tomorrow morning, Australia will guarantee their place in the final eight in Malaga for the Davis Cup Finals in November.
“[There’s] a bit to play out [in] the next couple of days with the other teams, and we see where that lands,” Hewitt said. “But we can only do what we can control, and we’ll get ready to give our best effort on Sunday [against Spain] and see what the situation is.
“As I’ve said when I first got here, I had full belief in the five players that I’ve got in the team, and I still absolutely do. And I’m so proud of them, and their efforts, and what they’ve put themselves through in a really tough calendar as well.
“The team camaraderie is incredible, and they feed off each other, and we’re getting the results on the back of that.”
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