‘Nothing for granted’: Aussies wary of Davis Cup threat
Darren Walton |
Stung twice before, Lleyton Hewitt is refusing to underestimate Belgium as his much-fancied Australian team strive to return to the Davis Cup quarter-finals for a fourth straight year.
Runners-up in 2022 and 2023 and semi-finalists last year, Australia host the Belgians at Sydney Olympic Park this weekend as hot favourites to again reach the Final 8 to be staged in Italy in November.
World No.8 Alex de Minaur will play the 91st-ranked Raphael Collignon in Saturday’s opening singles rubber before Australian No.2 Jordan Thompson faces Belgian No.1 Zizou Bergs in the second match.
At No.46 in the world, Bergs is ranked 33 spots above Thompson, leaving the first-day singles in the balance.
Hewitt knows the significance of getting off to a strong start ahead of Sunday’s doubles and reverse singles rubbers.
While the visiting Europeans shape as big underdogs, Belgium have a history breaking Australian hearts.
Belgium upset Australia 3-2 in the 2010 World Group play-offs in Cairns before denying Hewitt’s team a place in the 2017 Davis Cup final with another improbable 3-2 triumph in Brussels.
Now-captain Steve Darcis was the spoiler in both those ties, defeating Carsten Ball and Thompson respectively in the deciding fifth rubbers, and is plotting another boilover – and Hewitt is suitably wary.
“They’re a great tennis nation. For a small country, they’ve had fantastic results in in this competition,” Hewitt said at Friday’s draw.
“Their players always want to play and and represent their country with a lot of pride and passion out there, so we’re trying to prepare as well and as hard as we possibly can, and we’re not taking anything for granted.
“Alex is kicking us off tomorrow, he’s done all the hard work, he knows what he’s got to do and now it’s time to step up to the plate and execute and hopefully he can get off to a good start.
“And somehow we’ve got to win three out of the five matches.”
But with a big US Open win over two-time grand slam finalist Casper Ruud two weeks ago, Collignon knows “anything is possible” against de Minaur.
“I know my chances on paper is not very high but, yeah, we saw that in the US Open also against Casper,” he said.
“He was number 12. I was 105 and I managed to win this match, so you never know what’s going to happen.
“So I’m going to be ready to try to fight for the ball and let’s see what happens.”
Fresh off his own run to the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows, de Minaur welcomed the challenge from his lower-ranked rival.
“Ultimately, he’s going to be ready tomorrow. He’s going to come after me and my job is to make his life difficult,” de Minaur said.
“That’s basically it. We’re playing in Sydney, we’re playing at home, we’re playing on a court which I love and hopefully I can come out tomorrow, put some good tennis on the board and get us off to a good start.”
Cup debutant and fellow Sydneysider Rinky Hijikata is slated to partner Paris Olympic gold medallist John Peers in the doubles match to kick-start Sunday’s action.
The reverse singles will pit Thompson against Collignon and de Minaur against Bergs.
AAP
