Thanasi triumphs in torrid tiebreak to hand Oz 1-0 lead

Thanasi Kokkinakis fought through on Thursday to put Australia into 1-0 command over the US, claiming a 6-1 4-6 7-6(14)  victory over Ben Shelton in a Davis Cup thriller in Spain.

The No. 77 surprise choice from captain Lleyton Hewitt who has never been past the third round of a Grand Slam, excelled in Malaga as he held off Shelton and saved four match points for the American along the way.

Kokkinakis called the result “crazy.”

“The last two years we’ve made it to the Finals I haven’t been able to play and that was disappointing. But Lleyton showed a lot of faith in me and I tried to fight until the end.”

The oft-injured Aussie who was called over higher ranked compatriots Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson, has been a lucky charm for his team in Davis play, winning all three of his matches in 2024.

He began with three breaks of the Shelton serve, with the American dropping the opening set on a foot fault call before reversing momentum and claiming the second to square the encounter.

.The final set was a struggle from the 5-all later stages and into the tiebreaker won by Kokkinakis.

Australia could move into the semis if Alex de Minaur defeats US Open and ATP Finals runner-up Taylor Fritz later.