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Lleyton Hewitt's brutal call vindicated as Aussies make brilliant start to Davis Cup campaign

The Australian tennis captain decided to bench Jordan Thompson despite some brilliant form of late.

sam goodwin
Sports Editor
·4-min read

Lleyton Hewitt's call to bench Jordan Thompson for Australia's opening Davis Cup clash with France proved a masterstroke as Thanasi Kokkinakis claimed a stunning win and the Aussies won the tie 2-1. With Alex de Minaur out injured, the Aussies were still confident heading into the tie with Alexei Popyrin and Thompson in brilliant form of late.

Popyrin and Thompson are both in the world's top 30 in singles (at 24 and 29 respectively), and both showed some stunning form at the US Open. Popyrin beat Novak Djokovic on his march to the third round, while Thompson made the fourth round where he was beaten by de Minaur.

Australia in action against France in the Davis Cup.
Jordan Thompson was benched as Thanasi Kokkinakis helped Australia beat France 2-1 in the Davis Cup. Image: Getty

But Hewitt made the staggering call to overlook Thompson in favour of Kokkinakis, ranked 49 places lower at World No.78. Hewitt admitted before the tie that selection was going to be tough, but no one could have expected him to go with Kokkinakis over Thompson.

But it proved an absolute masterstroke as Kokkinakis stunned World No.25 Arthur Fils to give Australia a 1-0 lead in the tie. Kokkinakis got Australia off to the ideal start, beating Fils 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3) in a huge boilover.

Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Thanasi Kokkinakis celebrates his win over Arthur Fils in the Davis Cup. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images for ITF)

Kokkinakis came back from 4-2 down in the second set, saving a series of break points to force the tiebreak. A brilliant running backhand return was a key shot as he turned the tables on Fils.

"If I don't make that, I don't think I'm coming back from a double break down in the second set," he said. "After I saw Alex (de Minaur) at the US Open I knew he wasn't 100 per cent and was struggling, so my focus changed. I was like, 'I need to be ready here. I need to have a little bit more purpose when I train'. Lleyton trusted me to go in there and do the job and give my best effort and I'm very happy with the way it went."

Hewitt might have regretted not playing Thompson over Popyrin, who was blown away by World No.17 Ugo Humbert as France levelled the tie at 1-1. Humbert won 80 per cent of his first serve points, while Popyrin managed less than 60. Humbert forced 23 errors from his Aussie opponent and hit 16 winners, while Popyrin only hit five.

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Some might have regarded Thompson as unlucky to miss out on playing the doubles as well, but Hewitt went with Max Purcell and Matt Ebden. Thompson and Purcell had just won the US Open doubles crown together, although Ebden won gold at the recent Olympics with John Peers.

In the end he went with Ebden and Purcell, who proved good together in last year's Davis Cup. And that too proved a masterstroke as the Aussies won the tie with a 7-5 5-7 6-3 over Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Matt Ebden and Max Purcell in the Davis Cup.
Matt Ebden and Max Purcell celebrate Australia's win over France in the Davis Cup. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images for ITF)

Hewitt has shown time and time again that he's loyal to players who've got the job done before. Kokkinakis has a brilliant Davis Cup record and has helped Australia reach the final in the last two editions of the event.

Thompson was brutally unlucky not to get a game on Tuesday (Wednesday morning Australian time), but once again it proved the right call from Hewitt. Australia will face Spain (led by Carlos Alcaraz) and Czech Republic to round out the group stage, with the top two countries from each group advancing to the finals in November.

with AAP