Hewitt powers Aussies into Davis semis
Print Edition
Tennis warhorse Lleyton Hewitt clinched a fighting comeback from 0-2 down to lift Australia into the semifinals of the Davis Cup in Darwin yesterday.
The 34-year-old Hewitt, playing in his record 40th Cup tie, sealed a 3-2 victory over Kazakhstan with a gritty 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-3 win in the fifth rubber over Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
It was the first time in 76 years that 28-time champion Australia had clawed back from 0-2 down to win a Davis Cup tie.
“I love the back-against-the-wall situation and that’s what we had after day one,” Hewitt said amid high emotion. “We rallied together and found a way to win.”
While it was Hewitt, Australia’s most successful player in the Davis Cup, who won the final live rubber for his 42nd singles triumph in the teams competition, it was Sam Groth who kept the tie alive for his country with a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-6 (6) win over Mikhail Kukushkin.
The big-serving Groth thundered down 29 aces to just get over the line against the never-say-die Kukushkin in just under three hours on the grasscourt surface.
Australia will now face either Britain or France in September’s semifinals. Britain leads their quarterfinal 2-1 going into yesterday’s reverse singles between Andy Murray and Gilles Simon in London.
The other semifinal will be between Belgium and Argentina.
Australia looked on the brink of being dumped from the competition when the hosts trailed 0-2 after Friday’s singles following defeats by youngsters Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios.
Hewitt and Groth kept the Australians in the tie with a straight-sets doubles win over Andrey Golubev and Nedovyesov on Saturday, setting up a tense final day.
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