De Minaur takes Australia to second straight Davis Cup final

MALAGA — Alex de Minaur has led Australia into its second consecutive Davis Cup final after dominating the serve of Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori, on Friday.

De Minaur earned 18 break point opportunities during his 6-4, 6-3 win, converting five times and winning 48 per cent of his first-serve return points. He has now won four consecutive singles matches in the Davis Cup Finals.

The World No. 12’s victory followed teammate Alexei Popyrin’s 7-6(5), 6-2 win over Otto Virtanen. “Probably the biggest win of my career,” Popyrin told DavisCup.com. “To win a match that means so much for us is an honour and something that I will never forget.”

In Sunday’s final Australia will play the winner of Serbia and Italy, a tie that will feature a rematch of the Nitto ATP Finals title match between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner.

Earlier this week Australia was in a big hole against the Czech Republic after Tomas Machac beat Jordan Thompson 6-4, 7-5 and Jiri Lehecka built a 6-4, 5-3 lead against de Minaur. But from deuce in his 3-5 service game, the 24-year-old won 10 straight points to turn the match on its head. After de Minaur claimed the comeback win, Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell clinched the deciding doubles rubber.

Australia will now look to atone for its defeat to Canada in last year’s final. Australia has a 28-20 record in Davis Cup finals, second only to the United States (32-29).

But it has been 20 years since the traditional powerhouse has won the Cup. In 2003 it defeated Spain at Melbourne Park, where current captain Lleyton Hewitt teamed with Mark Philippoussis and doubles pair Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge to carry the host nation to victory.

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