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Australia doubles pair Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson settle Davis Cup semi-final against Croatia to reach final
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Published 25/11/2022 at 23:55 GMT
Australia beat Croatia 2-1 to book their spot in the Davis Cup final. Borna Coric gave Croatia the lead with a win over Thanasi Kokkinakis before Alex de Minaur beat Marin Cilic and doubles pair Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson completed the turnaround to proceed to Sunday’s final. Australia will play either Italy or Canada as the two lock horns on Saturday for the remaining spot.
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Video credit: SNTV
Doubles pair Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson beat Croatian duo Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic to complete a comeback and fire Australia into Sunday’s Davis Cup final.
They won 6-7 7-5 6-4 in the Friday night doubles decider after Thanasi Kokkinakis conceded defeat to Borna Coric in the first match, only for Alex de Minaur to pull things level with a win over Marin Cilic in the second.
Coric enjoyed a commanding performance to give Croatia a 1-0 advantage, beating Kokkinakis 6-4 6-3.
He helped turn the tie in Croatia’s favour with 19 winners and conceded only nine unforced errors throughout the match.
Despite Kokkinakis’ electric service game - registering nine aces in the first set - he still struggled to find a way past Coric who was even more dominant in the second set which proved decisive.
“This means a lot to me,” Coric said after the match. “I was watching the guys play Davis Cup when I was injured and doing my rehab.
“To play for Croatia is an amazing feeling to me. I was turning to my coach in the first set and saying ‘I don’t know what to do against his serve’, but I started to read it later on, and thankfully I was serving well myself.
“When I was younger I didn’t serve so well and needed to improve it. After my shoulder surgery, I didn’t know whether I would be able to serve again at all, but I did so much work on it that I serve even better now than I used to.”
De Minaur cancelled out Coric’s previous success by overcoming Cilic 6-2 6-2 to set up the doubles decider.
De Minaur took control of the tie in stunning fashion to halt Cilic’s good patch of form that helped him haul Croatia into the semi-finals.
The 34-year-old conceded four double faults in the opening game as he endured a rough start before a relentless de Minaur proved too much for the Croatian No. 1.
“I’m just happy to give our country a chance,” de Minaur said after closing out victory. “Very happy with my performance.
“We play with passion, we play with pride, and I know our doubles guys will leave it all out there. I can’t wait to see them play.”
The win earns Australia their first spot in the Davis Cup final since 2003.
Italy take on Canada in the other semi-final on Saturday for the remaining spot in Sunday's final.
Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Musetti are among the players involved for Italy while world No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov are in action for Canada.
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