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Australia Davis Cup team captain Lleyton Hewitt admitted it wasn't easy against Hungary but he was glad that his guys managed to get the job done. Australia hosted Hungary in Sydney and claimed a tight 3-2 win to secure a ticket for this year's Davis Cup Finals.
“I’ve never been part of a Davis Cup tie that’s easy,” Hewitt said, per Tennis Australia. “You always expect twists and turns at different times. And that’s certainly what the last two days has thrown at us yet again, and you’ve got to be able to deal with it and we did that”.
“I’m just really proud of the boys’ efforts. Everyone in the team and the squad, they came and prepared and did absolutely everything that we asked of them. The passion and team spirit were second to none, and it really showed.
“Even when we were 2-1 down, you know, in the locker room the belief that that everyone had that we could still find a way to turn it around”.
Hewitt's decision to invite Thanasi Kokkinakis paid off
On the opening day of the tie, Alex de Minaur defeated Zsombor Piros but Marton Fucsovics defeated Kokkinakis to level the tie.
After John Peers and Luke Saville suffered a shock loss to Fabian Maroszan and Mate Valkusz, de Minaur defeated Fucsovics to force a deciding rubber. In the decider, Kokkinakis handed a 6-4 6-4 loss to Piros to secure victory for Australia.
“It’s just very different playing in a team atmosphere, you’re playing for more than yourself. It’s not just sort of personal accolades,” Kokkinakis said. “But everyone, all week, win or loss, I feel like we just got along as a group really well." Kokkinakis, who captured his maiden ATP title in Sydney and then won his first Grand Slam title with Nick Kyrgios at the Australian Open, was playing his first Davis Cup tie since 2015.