2024 Davis Cup Final 8: Australia stick to their guns to storm past USA into final four

The United States and Australia are Davis Cup heritage, so it was appropriate that fans at the Palacio de Deportes in Málaga, Spain were treated to a classic.

In the 48th meeting between the two nations, the most played nation rivalry in the tennis competition’s history, Australia played their cards right to win the tie 2-1 on Thursday (21 November) and head to the semi-finals for the third year on the trot.

Thanasi Kokkinakis put them on their way with a thrilling 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (14) victory against Ben Shelton, before world number four Taylor Fritz beat no. 4 Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4 a week on from their meeting at the ATP Finals.

That meant the tie went down to the doubles. Nothing guaranteed, but not a surprise given the strength of the respective teams.

The wildcard came from USA’s last-minute decision to overhaul their selection, switching from Olympic silver medallists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram to singles players Tommy Paul and Shelton.

It was a gamble that did not pay off: Australia’s Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson prevailed 6-4, 6-4 and sent the Americans packing.

“It was a matchup decision in this case, and I wouldn't change a thing,” USA captain Bob Bryan stoically admitted after the match. “We were hoping to catch the Aussies a little bit by surprise, but those guys rose to the occasion.”

American gamble is Australian delight in Málaga

The US were ready to rely on their trusted double duo to complete the comeback, until Bryan made a bold move at the 11^th hour to ditch the third and fifth best ranked American doubles players.

“You get 15 minutes to talk about it amongst the team in between the singles and the doubles match,” Bryan explained. “That's when we made the decision.”

Meanwhile, Australia knew what they were doing. With Olympic champion Ebden and world number three Jordan Thompson, they had a formidable pair ready for action and for whatever their opponents would throw at them.

“It didn't surprise us that much, to be honest," admitted team captain Lleyton Hewitt. “I'd seen them do drills during the week, so yeah, it wasn't a surprise. At the end of the day, we knew who we were going with and we had to go out there, and these two just came off playing in the [ATP] Finals last week, and they were there for a reason.”

Australia broke early on and took control of the opening set, capitalising on their chemistry against a perhaps mismatched American duo.

The US came back strong and Shelton’s serve saved three break points at 4-4 in the second set, but it was not enough as on the fourth occasion Australia regained their grip on affairs and finished the match and tie off in straight sets.

Thanasi Kokkinakis wins opening singles thriller

It was not Shelton’s day on Davis Cup debut as he lost both of his matches, despite hitting more aces (22) than any other player and thriving with his serve.

He came up against a hungry Kokkinakis in a mismatched first set, Shelton’s eight unforced errors and the Australian winning six games without reply to take the first set inside 22 minutes.

Shelton came back resurgent to level it up, as he saved all five break points in the second set before hitting his 10^th match ace to force a deciding set.

Bryan dubbed it “the best match in Davis Cup history”, and he makes a fair point.

An end-to-end final set went down to a tiebreak, and at that one of the most gripping the World Cup of tennis has seen, more akin to sudden death in a football penalty shootout.

Kokkinakis capitalised on his seventh match point to win the tiebreak 16-14, the longest Davis Cup tiebreak in five years and the joint-sixth longest in competition history.

A match worthy of the Davis Cup Final 8 and the competition’s fiercest rivalry, as Australia stuck to the gameplan and advanced in Andalusia.

The Australians will take on Italy in the semi-final on Saturday, 23 November, a repeat of the 2023 Davis Cup Final which the Italians won.