AUSTRALIA has one foot in the knockout stages of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals after whitewashing Czech Republic 3-0 in the green and gold’s second group stage match overnight. Following on from a nail-biting 2-1 result against France, the Australians had it far easier against a wounded Czech side who once again saw Tomas Machac retire.

While Australia was coming off a 2-1 win over France, Czech Republic entered the tie off a disappointing 3-0 loss to Spain. In that tie, Machac had to retire early in the third set against Carlos Alcaraz, but still stepped up to play the second singles match last night. It lasted one game before he had to retire again, with plenty of head scratching as to why he was picked over specialist doubles player Adam Pavlasek who was fit. However second singles player Jiri Lehecka was unavailable due to illness.

Czech captain Jaroslav Navratil explained it was his “worst day as captain”.

“If you are thinking all last night who we are next day putting in singles, it was not easy,” he said. “I was sleeping just three hours. But thatwas the situation, a hard situation for us. We have two players; one injured and cramping since last night, the other with a fever of 38 (degrees), so what can I do? We tried out best.

“Jakub, for 19 years-old, it’s not easy. He finished nearly midnight last night, and then today has to play singles and doubles. He did everything he could on the court.”

Earlier in the clash, Thanasi Kokkinakis continued his form with a hard-fought three-set win over Jakub Mensik who replaced Lehecka as the second singles player. After Kokkinakis won the first set 6-2, Mensik answered back by grinding out a tiebreaker second set, before the Aussie again found the form to win the decider 6-3 for victory in two hours and 21 minutes.

“To step up and get two points on the board is massive,” Kokkinankis said. “Big up to (captain) Lleyton (Hewitt) for trusting me and giving me the run. All of us could have played, that’s the beauty of tennis in Australia right now, we’re all having great years.”

Kokkinakis served 19 aces among 31 winners, while Mensik produced 14 from 37, but also hit 12 more unforced errors (45-33) and 12 more forced errors (25-13). While Mensik did managed to break once, Kokkinakis had more answers upon return, closing out four breaks of serve and stepping up when required.

In the dead rubber battle, the doubles pairing of Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell stepped to the plate against Mensik and Pavlasek, winning 6-4 6-2 to complete a perfect night at the office. The Aussie pair hit nine aces and 29 winners compared to the Czech’s eight and 20, while only committing 10 unforced errors to Mensik and Pavlasek’s 16.

AROUND THE WORLD

It was a one-sided night all night as Germany all but booked its ticket into the elimination stages with a second straight 3-0 victory in Group C. The Germans defeated Chile 3-0 to send the South Americans to an 0-6 record for the tournament, and if the United States win against Slovakia tomorrow night, the pair has qualified for the knockout stages. Maximilian Marterer and Yannick Hanfmann both won in straight sets overnight, as did the super doubles pair of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.

It was not much closer in Manchester as Canada swept its way to a 3-0 win over Finland, eliminating last year’s semi-finalists from knockout stage contention. The talent of Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime was on display with the singles players winning their respective matches against Eero Vasa and Otto Virtanen, before pairing up to win the doubles in straight sets against Harri Heliovaara and Virtanen too.

In the only close tie of the match, Netherlands survived a scare against Brazil to keep its hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages alive. After a tough loss to Italy the other night, young gun Joao Fonseca got Brazil off to the perfect start with an upset 6-4 7-6 win against Botic Van de Zandschulp, before Tallon Griekspoor levelled the tie following a 7-6 6-4 triumph over Thiago Monteiro. The loser of the doubles would be knocked out of the Davis Cup, and luckily for the Dutch, van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof got it done 6-4 7-6 over Brazilian doubles pair, Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo.