Playing for the first time since the 2023 Davis Cup final, Australia begins its 2024 campaign in Valencia in the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage, opening against France.
Valencia, Spain, 10 September 2024 | Matt Trollope
Australia begins its quest for a 29th Davis Cup title when a strong green-and-gold squad takes to the court this week for the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage.
Playing in Valencia in Group B alongside hosts Spain, plus France and Czech Republic, Australia is bidding to reach a third consecutive final in the team competition – and hopefully go one better.
Australia begins against France on Tuesday at 4pm local time (Wednesday 12am AEST), before taking on Czech Republic at the same time two days later, and Spain on Sunday (11am local time, 7pm AEST).
Despite Alex de Minaur having to withdraw due to injury, Australia is represented by Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Max Purcell and Matt Ebden – all players in excellent recent form.
“It makes it tougher, I guess, but it’s a good problem to have, that’s for sure. I’d rather it that way,” Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt said about selecting the team from such a strong current crop of players.
“All these boys always know that this is going to be a team effort, and it has been the last couple of years for us to make a run deep into the competition as well.
“We’ve been able to do that well, and the camaraderie’s great, I think we’ve got a great Australian culture going as well amongst all the boys, not just the guys that are playing, it’s all the support staff and the hitting partners and everyone that’s at the ties as well.
“Obviously it’s always a tough decision [regarding De Minaur’s hip injury], and Alex has done some incredible stuff in Davis Cup over the last three or four years now.
“But he’s been battling for a little while since Wimbledon, and he hasn’t really been close to 100 per cent, even at the US Open, which was obvious at times throughout that. So it was always going to be a massive challenge for him to get up to play here.
“He was desperate to, and yeah, in the end it really wasn’t much of a choice.”
Australia has not played since its 2023 final loss to Italy, and as a result of making that final, directly entered the 2024 Davis Cup Finals Group Stage without having to play a qualifying tie.
France presents a tough opening assignment, represented by top-25 players Ugo Humbert and Arthur Fils, big-hitting Arthur Rinderknech, and Grand Slam doubles champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Yet the French would think similarly of the challenge Australia presents.
Popyrin recently won the Montreal Masters and is fresh off defeating Novak Djokovic at the US Open to reach the fourth round of a major for the first time.
Purcell and Thompson ended the US Open as doubles champions, after Thompson advanced to the fourth round of the singles. Kokkinakis stunned Greek superstar Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round in New York.
Just a few weeks earlier, Ebden combined with John Peers to win doubles gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“It’s a tough group, but I think any match in Davis Cup is tough. We back ourselves against anyone though, as well,” Hewitt said.
“We’ve been to the finals the last two years, we know what to expect. We know what we’ve got to do this week, and as I said, these guys put in the hard yards, not just this week leading into this tie but throughout the year as well, to give themselves the best opportunity of playing well and getting career-high rankings. So they’ll be full of confidence when we start tomorrow.
“I’ve got so much belief in the five guys sitting up here with me, that we’re capable of doing that, and they know that. They know how much confidence I have in them as individuals, and I think they’ve all had stellar careers. This year on a personal note as well – some massive highlights.
“I expect us to go out there and compete hard and play well, and I think we’re a good shot.”