Lleyton Hewitt's staggering reveal about Alex de Minaur as Aussies cop blow for Davis Cup finals

Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt has revealed injured tennis star Alex de Minaur was "not even close to 100 per cent" at the US Open this month and is battling to get back to full fitness before the Davis Cup finals. Hewitt's Aussies beat France and the Czech Republic to secure one of the eight spots for November's finals in Malaga and have now been handed a brutal draw for the business end of the competition.

First up for Australia is a tricky quarter-final tie against a powerful US side that contains the likes of big guns Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe and US Open finalist Taylor Fritz. If Hewitt's men can get past the Americans then a potential semi-final clash against the even more formidable Italy awaits.

The Italians are led by two-time major winner and World No.1 Jannik Sinner and are the current holders of the Davis Cup after beating Australia in last year's final. That was the second year in a row that Hewitt's men lost in the final of the event which is effectively the World Cup of men's tennis.

Hewitt will be hoping to have de Minaur fit and firing by the time the finals kick off in November after the Aussie No.1 failed to feature in any of last week's matches. The 'Demon' has been battling a hip injury he picked up at Wimbledon that ruled him out of the singles competition at the Olympic Games. However, he returned for the US Open earlier this month and made it to the quarter-finals, despite Hewitt revealing he wasn't even close to full fitness.

The Australia captain admitted he was still working through the World No.11's schedule and what the two-month spell looks like for de Minaur in the lead-up to the Davis Cup finals. "Still working through that with him, and it's been a tough period for Alex," Hewitt admitted about his top player.

"So you've got to take your hat off to him for the effort he's put in. He was not even close to 100 per cent (at the US Open) but to make a quarter-final of a grand slam, that's competing. So he did bloody well, and he's going to do everything to get back as quickly as possible. As for the timeframe, I'm not sure yet."

De Minaur remains absolutely key to Australia's Davis Cup hopes but the brutal draw throws up another daunting task for him and the Aussies if they do set up a showdown against Sinner's Italy in the semi-finals. Sinner hammered the Demon in last year's Davis Cup final to maintain his unbeaten record over the Aussie No.1, with Sinner extending that ominous record to 7-0 in head-to-heads against the Aussie.

Australia drawn against powerful USA team in quarter-finals

Before Hewitt's men can start to think about Italy though, they have to get past the USA in a quarter-final tie that pits the Davis Cup's two most successful nations against one another. Hewitt's 28-time winners - seeking their first title in 21 years - will face Bob Bryan's Americans, the record 32-time winners who are also seeking to end a title drought that stands at 17 years.

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The brutal nature of Australia's draw is summed up by the fact they'll have to overcome a US team that currently boasts five men in the world's top 20 - Fritz, Paul, Sebastian Korda, Tiafoe and Ben Shelton. Should they navigate that tricky first obstacle then Sinner and the Italians await, provided they get past Argentina in their quarter-final clash.

De Minaur will have strong back-up in the form of two top-30 Aussie teammates, Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson, while Thanasi Kokkinakis offers another option and has been outstanding for Hewitt's men in the Davis Cup. The Aussies also have the world-beating doubles pairing of Max Purcell and Matt Ebden, and will fancy their chances of beating anyone on their day.

On the opposite side of the draw to Australia, 2022 champions Canada will take on Germany, while the Netherlands play hosts Spain, who defeated Hewitt's men 2-1 in last week's group stages, despite resting superstar Carlos Alcaraz. The Aussies ran out of steam by the time the final doubles rubber against Spain rolled around, with Hewitt slamming a "ridiculous" schedule that saw Purcell join the squad and play in the opening tie against France just three days after his triumph in the US Open doubles final.

with AAP