MALAGA – Thanasi Kokkinakis emerged from a tight-as-can-be tiebreaker by saving four match points and eventually converting his seventh to get past Ben Shelton 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (14) and give Australia a 1-0 lead over the United States in the Davis Cup quarterfinals on Thursday.
On an indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martina Carpena in southern Spain, the 77th-ranked Kokkinakis withstood 21 aces from Shelton, a big-serving left-hander who is ranked 21st and reached the U.S. Open semifinals in 2023.
The second singles was scheduled to be U.S. Open runner-up Taylor Fritz of the U.S. against No. 9 Alex de Minaur of Australia. If Fritz were to win that one, the matchup would be decided by doubles, with Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of the U.S. taking on Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson of Australia.
When the opening match finally ended, on a backhand by Shelton that landed long, Kokkinakis dropped onto his back and pounded his chest. After he rose, he threw a ball into the stands, then walked over to Australia’s sideline, spiked his racket and yelled, before hugging captain Lleyton Hewitt.
“I don’t know if I’ve been that pumped up in my life. I wanted that for my team,” said Kokkinakis, who won the 2022 Australian Open men’s doubles title with Nick Kyrgios. “It could have gone either way, but I kept my nerve.”
One key stat: Shelton finished with 29 unforced errors in his Davis Cup debut, nearly twice as many as the 15 by Kokkinakis.
After a strong hold at love in an opening game that included a 139 mph (224 kph) ace and a trio of service winners, Shelton lost his way completely, losing 12 of his next 16 service points and six games in a row overall. That set ended with Shelton double-faulting when he was cited for a foot fault.
But he got going in the second set, breaking to begin it and saving all five break points he faced.
Shelton had his chances to close things out in the 30-point tiebreaker, but never was able to get the job done.
Fritz was dealing with a quick turnaround after reaching the title match at the ATP Finals on Sunday in Turin, Italy, where he lost to No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner.
Fritz flew to Spain the next day, then practiced Tuesday and Wednesday. He lost the U.S. Open final in September to Sinner, the first time an American man made it to the last day of any Grand Slam singles tournament since 2009.
The Americans own a record 32 Davis Cup championships but haven’t reached the semifinals since 2018 and haven’t claimed the title since 2007, their longest drought in the team competition. Australia, a 28-time champion, was the runner-up the past two years.
Whichever country reaches the semifinals on Saturday will take on defending champion Italy, which is led by Sinner, or Argentina.
The other semifinal, to be contested Friday, is the Netherlands against Germany. The Dutch eliminated Rafael Nadal and Spain in the quarterfinals, sending the 22-time Grand Slam champion into retirement.
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