Australia’s Davis Cup team has been able to celebrate reaching the Davis Cup finals – without even having to hit a ball on Friday.
Lleyton Hewitt’s men were thrilled to reach November’s eight-team showdown on their day off, their qualification being guaranteed by Spain’s victory over France in their group B clash in Valencia.
The Australians booked their place with two victories – 2-1 over France and 3-0 against the Czech Republic – earlier in the week.
And it means there will be no final-day sweating for captain Hewitt on Sunday when his team face the Carlos Alcaraz-inspired hosts in the final group fixture in front of a partisan Spanish crowd.
Instead, Australia can head to the finals with their sights on going one better than in the last two years when they finished as Davis Cup runners-up, beaten by Canada in the final in 2022 and Italy last year.
Australia has won the title 28 times but not since 2003, when Hewitt was playing in the team that beat Spain in the final in Melbourne.
Spain has now also qualified for the week-long finals, to be held on home soil in Malaga in November, after following up its win over the Czechs with another victory.
The Spanish were indebted to a typically dogged win by veteran Roberto Bautista Agut, who came back from the brink of defeat to outlast Arthur Fils 2-6 7-5 6-3 in the opening rubber.
Then Alcaraz, the Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion, was in imperious mood on the indoor hard court as he wrapped up the eventual 2-1 triumph with a 6-3 6-3 victory over the in-form Ugo Humbert, letting everyone know what it meant to him as he roared with delight afterwards.
Whether Alexei Popyrin, the Australian No.1 in Valencia in the absence of Alex de Minaur, will play Alcaraz in a last-day blockbuster remains to be seen, as the world No.3 hinted he might not feature in the Sunday fixture which will decide who tops the group.
“Both of us have qualified. Let’s see – we have a day off tomorrow and I have to talk with (captain) David (Ferrer) about Sunday and see who’s going to play,” shrugged Alcaraz.
“The main goal is done and probably another player who hasn’t played yet is probably going to play on Sunday. It’s David’s decision but we’re going to enjoy these few days.”
Going into the last weekend of qualifiers, four teams have already now sealed their quarterfinal places for Malaga – Australia, Spain, USA and Germany.
