Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt said a Davis Cup team seeking to end a 20-year title drought will draw inspiration from the World Cup success of the nation’s cricketers in India.
Spearheaded by world No.12 Alex de Minaur, Australia will play the Czech Republic in a quarterfinal of the Davis Cup Finals in Spain in a tie beginning at 2am AEST on Thursday.
Hewitt said the Aussies kept a keen eye on proceedings in India while training in France and Spain over the past week, pausing sessions to catch key moments as Australia restricted India to 240 in Ahmedabad.
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“When we were on the court, they were bowling at the time, so we were keeping a close eye on it the whole time and we all sat around the lunch room in our team hotel watching at the end of it, which was fantastic,” Hewitt told foxsports.com.au.
“It was just great. Once again, it was a kind of ‘backs against the wall’ situation, with India being the standout team throughout the whole competition, and then Australia came out with a game plan and had to try and execute it perfectly on the biggest stage of all.
“Especially away from home, that’s really about team culture and team spirit and being able to back each other in and have each other’s backs out there, and they did it all really well. So, yeah, hopefully the boys will draw a bit of inspiration from that result as well … this week.”
Hewitt senses similarities between the Australian team and his squad, which is seeking to go one step better in Malaga this week after falling to Canada in last year’s Davis Cup final.
He said the coaching team featuring Australian legend Tony Roche and Jaymon Crabb had encouraged the bonding and identified the ethic of de Minaur as critical to the camaraderie.
de Minaur and other squad members including Max Purcell, a fanatical cricket fan, are a particularly tight knit group who regularly meet for lunches at tournaments or support each other via a WhatsApp group when playing at different tournaments around the globe.
“I’ve tried to instil that in Alex since the first day we had him as an orange boy, as a 16 or 17-year-old, and it makes us incredibly proud to go into battle with him leading the boys on court,” Hewitt said.
“You know, Alex could have been an alternate in the end of the year tour finals (but he) came here and did the hard work with us, practising around the boys.
“That’s setting the standard, in a lot of ways, because the other boys see that as well, that the number one player is going beyond for the common goal that we’ve all got here.”
Australia has eight men sitting inside the world’s top 100 in singles aside from the injured Nick Kyrgios, whose injury-protected ranking also sits comfortably inside that bracket.
Veteran doubles star Matt Ebden, who reached the semifinals of the ATP Tour Finals in Turin last week, sits at a career high No.4 in the discipline and shapes as a key player in Spain.
Australian Open doubles champions Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler, who also competed in Turin last week, have travelled to Spain to support their mates rather than heading home for a break.
“Our boys are a very tight knit group, which has made it easier for me and it is something that Rochey, myself and Jaymon have really tried to work on over the last five years, especially,” Hewitt said.
“And we’ve been able to do that now with a good group of guys who are willing to make the Davis Cup and playing for Australia a priority in their careers. So when the calendar is set, they’re straightaway marking it in their diaries and trying to work back from there.
“We came bloody close last year and I know all these boys want to hopefully go one better, no-one more than Alex, so it helps when I got a team leader like that in the team.”
de Minaur was a winner in Acapulco this year and also reached his first Masters final in Canada in a busy season that saw him peak at a career-high ranking of 11.
Much rests on the shoulders of the 24-year-old given the quality of the seven remaining teams competing in Malaga over the next week.
Australia has won eight of its past nine ties against the Czech Republic but an opposition featuring Jiri Lehecka and Tomas Machac pose dangers.
The youthful Czechs both posted significant runs in grand slams in 2023 and qualified for the finals by defeating a Serbian team including Novak Djokovic, who featured in a doubles rubber, in September.
“We’re very wary, but we feel quietly confident in our team. I have full belief in the boys that they can go out there and hopefully get the job done for us,” Hewitt said.
Thanasi Kokkinakis was replaced by Alexei Popyrin, who sits at a career-high ranking of 40, after “tweaking a knee” while training in Paris last week.
Australia will face Finland should they progress after the Scandinavians upset last year’s champions Canada, which were without Felix Auger-Aliassime, on Wednesday.
The Djokovic-led Serbians managed to qualify despite the loss to the Czech Republic in the group stages and feature in the other half of the draw alongside Italy, Great Britain and the Netherlands.
In a surprise, the host nation Spain failed to qualify in September.