Sam Groth believes Australia is capable of mounting a Davis Cup title challenge after moving past the Czech Republic 4-1 to set up a mouth-watering home quarter-final with the US.
Jordan Thompson made it two wins from two on debut on Sunday when the 22-year-old eased past Jan Šátral 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 at Kooyong. Groth, subbed in for Australia’s No1 Nick Kyrgios, was Australia’s only loser for the weekend, throwing away his dead rubber to world No54 Jiří Veselý 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 47 minutes.
The Victorian served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but saw his challenge dissipated after two double faults. “It’s disappointing to lose when you’re playing for Australia but it’s been a good weekend,” he said. “The sun managed to come out for five minutes when I served for it.”
It was Groth’s 11th straight loss against top-60 opposition; a run dating back to the 2016 Australian Open but for captain Lleyton Hewitt’s side, it was only a minor blemish.
On Friday, Thompson beat Veselý and world No15 Kyrgios easily accounted for Šátral. When Groth paired with John Peers for Saturday’s doubles rubber, Australia had won nine straight sets and were back in the quarter-finals for the second time in 11 years.
Thompson backed up his Friday effort with a 90-minute success, achieved with just 18 unforced errors.
Groth said the “great” spirit among the group and their on-court performances had grown belief that they can build on their first-round success. “We want to do big things this year,” he said. “We feel like we’ve got a great team. Nick’s a quality player. He can probably beat any player in the world when he puts his mind to it.
“Thommo proved himself this weekend and I think Peersy and I make a great doubles team. We’ve got a great team, right down to all the support staff.”
In Alabama on Sunday morning (AEDT), the Americans were less convincing in booking their place in the last eight. Against an Swiss team without Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, Steve Johnson and Jack Sock needed two tiebreaks to beat lowly ranked pair Adrien Bossel and Henri Laaksonen. Sock and Jack Isner claimed singles wins on day one.
Hewitt is yet to pick a venue for the April meeting, with Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide the contenders. The tie is a rematch of last year’s first-round meeting – won by the US 3-1 at Kooyong – and Hewitt is wary of Jim Courier’s side.
“It’s a tough ask,” Hewitt said. “We lost to them in a pretty tight battle a year ago. They’re going to be really strong. They’ve got four really good singles players and they can mix and match the doubles pairing pretty well.”
View all comments >