Australia edges Czechia, setting Davis Cup semi-final with Finland

Australia drew upon its vast experience on Wednesday in Malaga as it rallied for a thrilling comeback victory over Czechia to reach the 2023 Davis Cup semi-finals, 2-1.

Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden dealt the decisive blow in the all-important doubles rubber, 6-4, 7-5, but the victory would not have been possible without the heroics of Aussie hero Alex de Minaur, who rallied from the brink to keep the green and gold alive in the tie, defeating Jiri Lehecka from a set and break down, 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-5.

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Australia, in search of its 29th Davis Cup crown and first since 2003, will face Finland in semi-final action on Friday in Malaga.

On Thursday in Malaga, Serbia will face Great Britain and Italy will face the Netherlands to determine the two semi-finalists from the lower half of this year’s Davis Cup final draw.

De Minaur plays hero

Jiri Lehecka nearly put Czechia into the semi-finals, but the world No 31 could not hold back De Minaur, who rallied from a set and 5-4 down, breaking Lehecka as he served for the tie, then winning a second-set tiebreak to force a third set.

In the third de Minaur rallied from 0-40 while serving at 2-3, and won five of the final seven games to keep his mates alive.

“It’s always special representing your country,” he told reporters. “I hope everyone in the team, everyone back home sees what it means to represent your country. And probably all the young ones coming up, as well.

“That’s a big motivation for me to show what it means to represent Australia in Davis Cup. It was definitely a special one.”

It was a brilliantly played match by Lehecka, who entered Wednesday’s tie with a 5-0 record in Davis Cup singles rubbers in 2023, but he couldn’t close the door on the indefatigable De Minaur.

“Sometimes you get into very dark spots in that match, and you’ve got to find a way to stay positive and stay your course, you know, kind of change the mentality,” De Minaur said.

“That’s what I try to do. I try to stay positive whenever I could feel myself entering a little bit of a low… I just told myself to keep fighting, keep playing till the last point. You never know. Sometimes you get your chances.”

Dominant doubles

Australia improves to 10-1 against the Czechs in Davis Cup play, and it would not have been possible without a sterling effort from Purcell and Ebden.

The duo needed just 73 minutes to secure safe passage, as they never faced a break point and converted one break per set to finish off the victory. Purcell and Ebden dropped just seven points on serve in a command performance.

“I didn’t want Alex to go out and come back for nothing!” Purcell said. “That would have been pretty disappointing. Would have been hard to walk back into the [locker] room, [I’d] just walk back to the hotel.”

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