Wins By Thanasi Kokkinakis & Taylor Fritz Leave Australia & US Tied At The Davis Cup Quarterfinals

Taylor Fritz defeated Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4 to even quarterfinal between United States and Australia, Davis Cup’s greatest champions, on Thursday.

Thanasi Kokkinakis gave Australia first point when he emerged from a tight-as-can-be tiebreaker by saving four match points and eventually converting his seventh to get past Ben Shelton 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (14).

On an indoor hard court at Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martina Carpena in sourn Spain, 77th-ranked Kokkinakis withstood 21 aces from Shelton, a big-serving left-hander who is ranked 21st and reached U.S. Open semifinals in 2023.

That was followed by U.S. Open runner-up Fritz’s far more straightforward victory over No. 9 de Minaur.

Those two singles results meant best-of-three tie would be decided by doubles, with Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of U.S. taking on Matt Ebden and Jordan Thompson of Australia. At Paris Olympics in August, Ebden won a gold medal with a different partner by beating Krajicek and Ram in final

Americans own a record 32 Davis Cup championships but haven’t reached semifinals since 2018 and haven’t claimed title since 2007, ir longest drought in team competition. Australia, a 28-time champion, was runner-up past two years.

Whichever country vances will take on defending champion Italy — which is led by No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner — or Argentina on Saturday.

or semifinal, to be contested Friday, is Nerlands against Germany. Dutch eliminated Rafael Nal and Spain in quarterfinals, sending 22-time Grand Slam champion into retirement.

When Thursday’s opening match finally ended, on a backhand by Shelton that landed long, Kokkinakis dropped onto his back and pounded his chest. After he rose, he threw a ball into stands, n walked over to Australia’s sideline, spiked his racket and yelled, before hugging captain Lleyton Hewitt.

“I don’t know if I’ve been that pumped up in my life. I wanted that for my team,” said Kokkinakis, who won 2022 Australian Open men’s doubles title with Nick Kyrgios. “It could have gone eir way, but I kept my nerve.”

One key stat: Shelton finished with 29 unforced errors in his Davis Cup debut, nearly twice as many as 15 by Kokkinakis.

After a strong hold at love in an opening game that included a 139 mph (224 kph) ace and a trio of service winners, Shelton lost his way completely, losing 12 of his next 16 service points and six games in a row overall. That set ended with Shelton double-faulting when he was cited for a foot fault.

But he broke to open second set and soon match was far more competitive.

“Once I got going, I thought I found a really good groove,” Shelton said. “I didn’t exactly like how I finished match at end. I thought I left a little bit on table.”

Fritz won nine of his 10 service games against de Minaur and dealt just fine with a quick turnaround after reaching title match at ATP Finals on Sunday in Turin, Italy, before losing to Sinner.

Fritz flew to Spain next day, n practiced Tuesday and Wednesday. He also lost to Sinner in U.S. Open final in September, first time an American man me it to last day of any Grand Slam singles tournament since 2009.