25 February 2020 | Tennis Australia

Alex de Minaur will represent Australia at the Davis Cup qualifier against Brazil in Adelaide next month, as his tennis comeback continues after being sidelined with an abdominal injury prior to the Australian Open.

World No.25 De Minaur will reunite with world No.23 team mate Nick Kyrgios and aims to reignite the passion they both displayed when representing Australia at the ATP Cup in January.

“I’m feeling great and looking forward to getting back on court with all the Aussie team,” De Minaur said.

“It’s always an amazing opportunity to represent your country, and we had a pretty good start to the year in Brisbane and Sydney at the ATP Cup. All the boys did an amazing job and it will be great to get back together and hopefully get the win over Brazil.”

John Millman and Jordan Thompson have been named in the five-man team, along with 28 year-old James Duckworth who will make his Davis Cup debut after hitting a career-high ranking of world No. 71, and winning the ATP Challenger in Bengaluru, India this month, his fifth title in the past year.

The right-hander, who achieved his previous career high ranking of world No. 82 in April 2015, has returned to career-best form after overcoming several injuries throughout 2017 and 2018.

In 2019 he led the ATP Challenger Tour stats with 49 match wins, and he won four titles from six finals.

“I’m really excited and honoured to be selected. Getting the opportunity to represent my country is extremely special and is something I will always remember,” Duckworth said.

“I’ve been part of a few ties before and I love the lead up week. Being able to train and spend time with all the boys as a team is always a lot of fun and I can’t wait to get to Adelaide.”

“We’re pleased we can field such a strong team for the Davis Cup tie against Brazil especially with Alex de Minaur back to full health after his injury during the summer,” Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt said.

“Nick Kyrgios, John Millman and Jordan Thompson have shown over the past couple of months they are competitive with the top players and it’s great to see them continue to produce results.

“And we’re delighted to select James Duckworth as part of this team. Ducks has had a long, hard road but his form in recent weeks and in the past 12 months has been impressive.

“We couldn’t be happier to give him this opportunity he’s worked so hard for.”

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said Adelaide is ready to welcome the Davis Cup team to Memorial Drive, and to celebrate more world-class tennis at the recently renovated venue.

“On the back of the Adelaide International last month, and a packed calendar of events in February, it will be terrific to welcome the Australian and Brazilian teams to Memorial Drive next month,” Marshall said.

“I know the fans are already excited about seeing Australia’s best men’s players go into battle for their country.”

Brazil reached the 2020 World Group Qualifiers after defeating Barbados 3-1 in the Americas World Group 1 last September.

Twenty-five-year-old Thiago Monteiro is Brazil’s highest ranked singles player at world No. 88 and Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares are seasoned doubles players ranked No.8 and No.24 respectively. The Brazilians are yet to announce their team.

Davis Cup by Rakuten Qualifier – Australia vs Brazil fast facts:

• The newly redeveloped Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in Adelaide, which now features a new woven fibreglass membrane roof over centre court, will host its second Davis Cup qualifier in 12 months
• Australia has met Brazil in Davis Cup on three occasions and leads the head-to-head count 3-0
• Their last meeting was a World Group Quarterfinal on clay in Florianopolis, Brazil in 2001. Australia won the tie 3-1
• Both teams are playing for a spot in the Davis Cup Finals. The winner will join 11 other qualifiers, the 2019 semifinalists, Canada, Great Britain, Russia and Spain, as well as the two 2020 wildcards, France and Serbia, in November in Madrid, Spain
• The qualifier will consist of four singles matches and one doubles match with all matches played over the best-of-three tiebreak sets. Two singles matches will be played on Friday 6 March with play starting at 1.00pm local time. On Saturday 7 March play will start at 12.00pm local time with the doubles match followed by the two reverse singles matches.

Single session tickets and two-day packages are still available via Ticketmaster.