Valencia, Spain, 13 September 2024 | Ian Chadband (AAP)

Australia’s soaring tennis men are on the verge of another crack at Davis Cup Finals glory after winning their second group-stage tie in just three days with a 3-0 whitewash of an ailing Czech Republic outfit in Valencia.

Lleyton Hewitt’s team, Davis Cup runners-up for the last two years, are now on track to make the ‘final-eight’ week in Malaga in November after following up their 2-1 win over France with a much easier outing against the injury and illness-hit Czechs on Thursday.

Thanasi Kokkinakis, again entrusted with the tricky No.2 singles spot by captain Hewitt, came up trumps once more on the indoor hard court once more, maturely dealing with the erratic firepower of rising teenage star Jakub Mensik in an impressive 6-2 6-7(2) 6-3 victory first up.

“To step up and get two points on the board is massive,” Kokkinakis told daviscup.com, also referencing his win over Arthur Fils in Australia’s earlier victory against France.

“Big up to Lleyton for trusting me and giving me the run. All of us could have played, that’s the beauty of tennis in Australia right now, we’re all having great years.”

The Czech challenge then crumbled after just eight minutes of the second rubber when their No.1 Tomas Machac, who had been forced to retire with cramp during his loss to Carlos Alcaraz in Wednesday’s loss against hosts Spain, again pulled out, this time with injury, against Alexei Popyrin.

To complete what Hewitt felt was “a perfect day”, his trusty doubles pairing of Matt Ebden and Max Purcell made short work of Mensik and Adam Pavlasek 6-4 6-2 to improve their Davis Cup record together to 8-1 and seal the vital win.

“Thanasi was fantastic in the first match,” said Hewitt.

“It was how he responded when challenged, which was so impressive to me. Really proud of his effort; fantastic to back up from a couple of days ago as well. That’s going to give him the world of belief in himself.

“Pop [Alexei Popyrin] was ready to go, but didn’t get much of a chance. We’ll certainly take it though.

“We know how important in this situation and this format it is to try and win 3-0, so we certainly weren’t letting up.”

World No.67 Mensik, a 19-year-old with a big future, provided plenty of trouble as he battled back to nick the second set after the Adelaide man had served for a straight-sets win.

But Kokkinakis regrouped and was then immaculate on his delivery as he bombed down a total of 19 aces while controlling the decider.

Mission accomplished 🫡@TKokkinakis gives Australia a 1-0 lead as he defeats Mensik in three sets in Valencia #DavisCup | @TennisAustralia pic.twitter.com/GPzIIeZHt1

— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 12, 2024

The subsequent battle between the two No.1s turned into a farce as it immediately became obvious that Machac, moving stiffly and with right calf heavily strapped, shouldn’t have been playing at all as he needed courtside medical attention after losing just the first game.

At 15-30 down on his own serve in the second, he then offered a resigned hand to Popyrin, gifting the Australians victory after just nine points.

The reason Machac was forced to play was because the Czechs, who had only four men in their team, had been hit by another match-day blow when their No.2 singles man Jiri Lehecka was forced out with illness.

The victory put Hewitt’s team in a hugely powerful position to reach the eight-team finals week after a second Group B victory, with a tie against the Alcaraz-inspired hosts still to come on Sunday.

If Spain beat France on Friday, the Aussies’ ticket to Malaga will be guaranteed.

“[There’s] a bit to play out I guess, the next couple of days with the other teams, and we see where that lands,” Hewitt said.

“But we can only do what we can control, and we’ll get ready to give our best effort on Sunday [against Spain] and see what the situation is.

“As I’ve said when I first got here, I had full belief in the five players that I’ve got in the team, and I still absolutely do. And I’m so proud of them, and their efforts, and what they’ve put themselves through in a really tough calendar as well.

“The team camaraderie is incredible, and they feed off each other, and we’re getting the results on the back of that.”

2024 Davis Cup Finals – group stage

AUSTRALIA d CZECH REPUBLIC 3-0

Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) d Jakub Mensik (CZE) 6-2 6-7(2) 6-3
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) d Tomas Machac (CZE) 1-0 ret.
Matt Ebden/Max Purcell (AUS) d Jakub Mensik/Adam Pavlasek (CZE) 6-4 6-2

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