Eight countries including Australia will resume their 2022 Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals tennis campaigns in Málaga next week. Australia’s opening match on 22 November is against the Netherlands, while Spain plays Croatia on the following day, and two matches will be played on 24 November, Italy against the United States and Germany versus Canada.
Australia qualified for the Final 8 by finishing Group C runner-up in the qualifiers, beating Belgium and France before succumbing to host country Germany in the last match.
The winner of the Australia-Netherlands match will play either Spain or Croatia on 25 November, with the second semi-final on 26 November, and the final on 27 November at the Martín Carpena sports stadium (home base of one of Spain’s top basketball teams, Unicaja Málaga).
Captained by Leyton Hewitt, Australia’s team has been named as Alex de Minaur, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden.
Australia is the second most successful country in the history of the Davis Cup, with 28 victories (behind the United States’ 32). The last win was back in 2003, when Australia (Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis, Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge) beat the Spanish team in the final at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
Photo of Nick Kyrgios from a previous Davis Cup tournament – by Jose Manuel Alvarez/Kosmos Tennis (courtesy of Lexus – official car partner of the 2022 Davis Cup)