Thanasi Kokkinakis recorded the biggest win of his Davis Cup career to help Australia record a 2-1 victory against France in Spain.
Valencia, Spain, 11 September 2024 | Leigh Rogers
The Australian team has made a winning start in the group stage of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.
The Aussies scored a hard-fought 2-1 victory today against France in the Spanish city of Valencia, triumphing in a thrilling tie that culminated in a high-pressure doubles rubber.
Thanasi Kokkinakis provided Australia with the perfect start, scoring the biggest win of his Davis Cup career against world No.25 Arthur Fils.
The world No.78 posted a 7-6(4) 7-6(3) victory against the 20-year-old Frenchman, fighting back from a 2-4 deficit in the second set to record a first top-30 win in the prestigious team competition.
“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.”
Kokkinakis seals the first match of the tie 🙌
🇦🇺 Australia 1 – 0 France 🇫🇷#DavisCup | @TKokkinakis pic.twitter.com/6Y321aPaEb
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 10, 2024
Kokkinakis was a late addition to the Australian team this week, replacing an injured Alex de Minaur.
“Obviously we’ve got a lot of options and great depth at the moment, so I still wasn’t sure if I’d get the call-up,” the 28-year-old said. “I’m happy that Lleyton trusted me to go in there and do the job.”
Kokkinakis revealed he was inspired to produce his best tennis for world No.11 De Minaur, who has been the team’s leader in recent years.
“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.”
France’s No.1 Ugo Humbert did his best to spoil Australia’s chances, powering to a 6-3 6-2 victory against Alexei Popyrin to level the tie at one apiece.
Stepping up into the Australian No.1 position for the first time in his career, world No.24 Popyrin was overpowered by his French opponent.
“He played some inspired tennis and didn’t let me into the match,” a disappointed Popyrin said. “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.”
World No.18 Humbert struck 16 winners to Popyrin’s five across their 71-minute encounter.
It meant that for the third year in a row, a deciding doubles rubber was needed to determine the winner of these two teams in a group-stage meeting at the Davis Cup Finals.
And for the third consecutive year, it was Ebden and Purcell who teamed up to secure an Australian victory.
World No.5 Ebden and world No.8 Purcell handled the pressure with aplomb to triumph 7-5 5-7 6-3 against experienced Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
There were some nervous moments when the French combination saved a match point and then reeled off three consecutive games to secure the second set, however Ebden and Purcell fought back to close out victory in two hours and 15 minutes.
“We were unlucky not to get the second [set], but we knew we just had to reset and play another good set,” Ebden said.
This improves 36-year-old Ebden and 26-year-old Purcell’s Davis Cup team record to seven wins from their eight matches together.
Victory for Australia! 🇦🇺
Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell clinch the deciding doubles match to secure a 2-1 win over France#DavisCup | @TennisAustralia pic.twitter.com/c92wJHsGxP
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 10, 2024
The Australian team needs to finish among the top-two nations in Group B this week to advance to the knockout stage of the finals in November.
| 2024 Davis Cup Finals Group B standings |
|||
| Nation | Ties won | Ties lost | Matches W-L |
| Australia | 1 | 0 | 2-1 |
| France | 0 | 1 | 1-2 |
| Czech Republic | 0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| Spain | 0 | 0 | 0-0 |
Australia plays the Czech Republic in its next round-robin tie (from 12am AEST Friday 13 September).
2024 Davis Cup Finals, group stage
AUSTRALIA d FRANCE 2-1
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) d Arthur Fils (FRA) 7-6(4) 7-6(3)
Ugo Humbert (FRA) d Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-3 6-2
Matt Ebden/Max Purcell (AUS) d Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 7-5 5-7 6-3
> READ: Australian tennis returns to glory years with 45-year first
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