Davis Cup rocked by eight-minute farce as Lleyton Hewitt and Aussies on cusp of making finals

Australia have one foot in the Davis Cup finals in November after sweeping the Czech Republic aside 3-0 on Thursday night in Spain. But it came with some farcical scenes when Czech No.1 Tomas Machac retired just eight minutes into his clash with Alexei Popyrin and should never have been playing in the first place.

Thanasi Kokkiankis delivered for Lleyton Hewitt yet again, beating rising teenage star Jakub Mensik 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 in the first rubber of the tie. The Aussies were then handed the tie in farcical fashion when Machac retired hurt in just the second game against Popyrin.

Machac had been forced to retire with cramping during his loss to Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday, and again pulled the plug against Popyrin. The battle between the No.1 players turned into a farce as it immediately became obvious that Machac shouldn't have been playing at all.

Moving stiffly and with his right calf heavily strapped, Machac needed courtside medical attention after losing just the first game. At 15-30 down on his own serve in the second, he then offered a resigned hand to Popyrin - gifting the Australians victory after just nine points.

Machac was forced to try and play because the Czechs, who only had four players in their team compared to Australia's five, had been hit by another match-day blow when No.2 singles player Jiri Lehecka was forced out with illness. Rather than play one of the doubles players in the singles, the Czechs opted to send out on ailing Machac. Tennis fans and commentators were left fuming over the farce, describing it as "pathetic" and "embarrassing".

Australia highly likely to advance to Davis Cup finals

Hewitt's team, who finished runners-up in the event two years running, are now odds on to make the final-eight week in Malaga in November. They started the group stage with a 2-1 win over France and will face Carlos Alcaraz and Spain on Sunday.

Australia's trusty doubles pairing of Matt Ebden and Max Purcell completed a 3-0 sweep of the Czechs, making short work of Mensik and Adam Pavlasek 6-4 6-2 to improve their Davis Cup record together to 8-1. Hewitt's call to pick Kokkinakis over the higher-ranked Jordan Thompson proved to be a masterstroke once again. "Thanasi was fantastic in the first match," said Hewitt, after Kokkinakis had stunned French No.2 Arthur Fils in the first tie.

Hewitt's team will likely advance to the finals by finishing in the top two of their group. If Spain beat France on Friday (local time), the Aussies' ticket to Malaga will be guaranteed. However there's a very slim chance Australia won't make it if they lose 3-0 to Spain and France manage to beat the Spaniards 3-0.

RELATED:

• Jelena Dokic goes public with staggering claim after Jannik Sinner triumph

• Nick Kyrgios in awkward twist as Jannik Sinner celebrates with girlfriend

Canada and Germany remain undefeated in Davis Cup

Elsewhere, Canada beat Finland in Manchester, while Germany swept aside Chile in China - both by the same 3-0 margin. Denis Shapovalov beat Eero Vasa 7-6 (2) 6-2 and Felix Auger-Aliassime followed up with a 6-2 6-3 win over Otto Virtanen for Canada, offering the 2022 champions an element of revenge after they lost to Finland in last year's quarter-finals.

"Everybody's in good spirits, so it's very good," Auger-Aliassime said. "Any motivation is good, but I think it's a different year, a different time, and last year's loss was behind us. This year we have a full team and everybody's playing better than last year. Everybody's improved." It means Canada and Germany remain unbeaten and are also likely to make November's finals.

with AAP