Hewitt turns to De Minaur and Davis Cup new boy Vukic on Day 1
Alex De Minaur, Aleksandar Vukic and Olympic champs John Peers and Matt Ebden will represent the Culture Amp Australian Davis Cup team against Sweden in Stockholm.
Stockholm, Sweden, 31 January 2025 | AAP and tennis.com.au
Captain Lleyton Hewitt is happy to rely on his trusty spearhead Alex de Minaur, hungry newcomer Aleksandar Vukic and veteran Olympic champion doubles players Matt Ebden and John Peers to steer the Culture Amp Australian Davis Cup team to a first-round qualifying win over Sweden in Stockholm.
Following a chaotic Australian Open for Hewitt during which injuries impacted selected team members Nick Kyrgios, Jordan Thompson and Thanasi Kokkinakis, he still had the luxury of calling on quality replacements for the two-day tie, which begins on Saturday morning AEDT.
> READ MORE: Hewitt backs De Minaur-led Davis Cup squad in Sweden
The injuries opened an unexpected opportunity for late-blooming 28-year-old Vukic, who revealed during his breakthrough run at Melbourne Park, during which he knocked out 22nd seed Sebastian Korda, how much he had coveted the thought of a Davis Cup debut.
“I feel like if we do all the right things and our preparation is key and I get them in as good a shape physically and mentally to go out there to compete, I feel like a lot of opportunity is going to be on our racquet,” Hewitt said. “I back our boys to get the result. We don’t take anyone lightly.”
Welcome to the team, Aleks
Earning his place in the Australian Davis Cup team for the first time, Aleksandar Vukic is presented with his gold jacket by four-time champion Ken Rosewall
pic.twitter.com/AXQ88dxTiv
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) January 30, 2025
World No.8 De Minaur kicks off proceedings against Mikael Ymer, a former top-50 player who had planned to retire after being suspended for 18 months for missing three drugs tests in a year but has decided to hit the comeback trail.
It is not a win De Minaur can take for granted, though, as Ymer returned last week with a victory in an ITF tournament in Luxembourg.
Vukic will be second up at the Royal Tennis Hall on Saturday, against Leo Borg, 21-year-old son of former great, Bjorn Borg.
The 116th man to play Davis Cup for Australia, world No.66 Vukic was moved when the great Ken Rosewall welcomed him to the team in a jacket-presentation ceremony.
“Yeah pretty surreal, wasn’t expecting it,” Vukic said. “For him to be there, especially someone else from Sydney as well, I was telling him I play on his court a lot.
“It’s very nice to have met him and for him to have presented that to me.”
> READ MORE: Culture Amp partners with Tennis Australia and national teams
The doubles will feature 36-year-old Peers and 37-year-old Ebden reunited on court for the first time since their Olympic triumph in Paris.
Hewitt said he was confident with the squad he had at his disposal in Stockholm and praised his charges for having made Davis Cup a priority so soon after the Australian Open.
“Really proud of the team. We come here to do a job, and we certainly don’t anything for granted,” he said. “It’s nice to play another one of the great nations that have had a lot of success in Davis Cup as well.
“Every Davis Cup tie is always tough, it doesn’t matter. For us it’s nice to get an opportunity to play in the home-and-away ties again … Even though this is an away tie I think it’s great because we should have a really great atmosphere.”
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