DARWIN // Tennis warhorse Lleyton Hewitt clinched a fighting comeback from 0-2 down to lift Australia into the semi-finals of the Davis Cup on Sunday.
Hewitt, 34, playing in a record 40th cup tie, sealed a 3-2 victory over Kazakhstan with a gritty 7-6, 6-2, 6-3 win in the fifth rubber over Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
It was the first time in 76 years that 28-time champions Australia had clawed back from 0-2 down to win a Davis Cup tie.
“I love the back-against-the-wall situation and that’s what we had after Day 1,” Hewitt said. “We rallied together and found a way to win. We didn’t panic when we were 2-0 down. We’re united for the one goal. It’s been a lot of fun.”
While it was Hewitt, Australia’s most successful player in the Davis Cup, who won the final live rubber for his 42nd singles triumph in the teams competition, it was Sam Groth who kept the tie alive for his country with a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 win over Mikhail Kukushkin.
The big-serving Groth thundered down 29 aces to just get over the line against Kukushkin in just under three hours on the grass court. Australia’s victory sets up a semi-final against Great Britain . The host nation looked on the brink of being dumped from the competition when they trailed 0-2 after Friday’s singles following defeats for youngsters Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios. Hewitt and Groth kept the Australians in the tie with a doubles win over Andrey Golubev and Nedovyesov on Saturday, setting up a tense final day.
Captain Wally Masur made the big call of bringing in Groth and Hewitt over Kyrgios and Kokkinakis to pull off a famous come-from-behind victory by the team’s old stagers.
In reference to Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, Masur said: “I hope that they realise that no one sits in judgement that they lost a tennis match. They have so long to go and have so much ability and are great kids. As Lleyton said, they are the next generation of our team and I just really look forward to it.”
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Britain made it through for the first time in 34 years after Andy Murray came from a set down to beat France’s Gilles Simon. Murray was playing his third match in as many days and fatigue looked to have taken its toll when he trailed Simon by a set and a break, but the Scot dug deep to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-0.
The victory handed Britain the best-of-five tie and sets up a clash with Australia in the last four.
It is the first time two brothers have won a World Group tie since 1998 after Murray beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the singles on Friday before partnering his brother Jamie to a win in the doubles.
“The whole weekend has been fantastic,” Murray said. “This team has done amazing things. We’re punching above our weight here. We’re in the semi-finals now of the biggest competition in tennis. It’s been a long road back from where we were a few years ago but there are many players who have played their part in getting us here.
“I’m just proud to get here and hopefully we can do well against Australia in September.”
Murray had to dig deep to overcome Simon. “It feels unbelievable to get through that,” he said. “It wasn’t looking good in the second set but I managed to find a way and used up every last ounce of energy.
“I tried to change my tactics, I was making too many mistakes and Gilles was playing so solid.
“I just chased every ball down, I didn’t care how I played, I just wanted to win the match today and that’s what I did.”
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