Davis Cup captain Wally Masur and director of performance Pat Rafter bit the bullet yesterday by dropping Nick Kyrgios and Thanes Kokkinakis from the reverse singles to set up a stunning 3-2 win over Kazakhstan at Darwin.
Down 0-2 after the opening singles, Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth won the doubles to keep the tie alive, when Masur and Rafter struck.
In came 27-year-old Groth to replace Kyrgios, and 34-year-old Hewitt – in the twilight of his stellar career – to replace Kokkinakis.
Against all odds, Groth beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3 7-6 4-6 7-6 before lion-hearted Lleyton cruised home 7-6 6-2 6-3 over Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
It was the first time since 1939 that Australia had come from 2-0 down to win a Davis Cup tie, and that happened to be the Cup final on the Merion Cricket Club grass at Haverford in Pennsylvania.
Adrian Quist outlasted Bobby Riggs in five on the final day, before John Bromwich straight-setted Frank Parker.
That was the first of 22 Davis Cup final victories for Harry Hopman to 1967, by far the most successful captain in Cup history.
But he had a long line of world-class players over the period: Frank Sedgman, Ken McGregor, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Rod Laver, Neale Fraser, John Newcombe, Fred Stolle, Tony Roche, Roy Emerson, Ashley Cooper, Rex Hartwig, Mervyn Rose, and Mal Anderson.
Masur and Rafter haven’t got anywhere near that luxury, but they’ve done damn well with what they have got.
Next up for Australia is Great Britain in the semis, in the week after the US Open in September.
So what will Masur and Rafter do if Bernard Tomic, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis are available?
There will be many Australian tennis fans who will willingly dump the younger trio to stick with Hewitt and Groth for both the singles and doubles rubbers.
Great Britain will have a fired up Andy Murray heading their campaign, who has lost only two of his 23 Davis Cup singles, and never on grass.
With the semi likely to be at Queens, where Great Britain beat France in the quarters, there will be three other matches to be decided to reach the final.
James Ward, ranked 89 in the world, will probably be the second singles player, with Jamie Murray, Andy’s year older brother, likely to be the doubles pairing.
And all three will be far easier to lock away than having to beat world number three Andy Murray.
Australia hasn’t been in the world group semis since 2006, Great Britain since 1981.
There’s a lot be be said in sticking with at least Hewitt for one singles semi berth.
He’s the length of the straight ahead of any other Australian in Davis Cup history.
Since his debut in 1999, Hewitt’s played the most ties (39), the most years (17), the most Davis Cup wins with 58 and 18 losses, and the most singles wins with 42 and 14 losses.
As he proved yet again yesterday, Lleyton Hewitt is the man for the moment.
If you were fighting for your life in the trenches, you’d want Hewitt right there beside you.
And that should be the case at Queens come September.
JM
Guest
Having been appalled by the controversies at the QF - the misconduct as well as the public and media backlash - TA must contract players to uphold their professionalism on and off the court. If a player is deemed unfit to carry out duties representing Australia as complete tennis professionals, either due to mental or physical exhaustion following a major campaign, or for personal reasons due to circumstances, it is better to be sidelined, even if included in the squad.
Brian
Guest
Love Hewitt's spirit as much as anyone but some realism would be good. Hewitt's won 2 matches all season and yesterday defeated a Kazakh 20 year old ranked outside the top 100. Playing Hewitt & Groth in the singles would be a disaster. After Murray beats them in 3 he would easily backup for the doubles. Whatever the surface Australia's best team is Krygios & Tomic with Hewitt & Groth playing the doubles. If the first two can be bought together they would beat Ward and maybe give Murray a tiring workout on Day 1. Hewitt & Groth have the game to make a good doubles combination. They could team up at the US Open as preparation. Anything other then Krygios & Tomic and you are opening it up to a loss to Ward and then its tie over.
Mukhtar
Guest
If the tie is played on hard courts, Kyrgios, Kokkinakis would be handy, but only if in form, and in the right frame of mind. If not, Oz should field the veterans - Groth, and Hewitt - they are still good, and are far more experienced, and battle-hardened.. And GB will turn the court, into a battle zone come Davis Cup time.. It is no event for the mentally-fragile (e.g. Kyrgios, Tomic)..
DJM
Guest
Some sportsman/women are team players and many are not . We have seen many great individual tennis stars struggle playing in Davis cup team environments for it requires a different mental approach than stringing wins together for individual glory . Fantastic effort by Aussie Davis Cup team from 0-2 down .... Proud as punch -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Riddler
Guest
Akari.. Strange call lad.. Very strange..
Geoff Foley
Roar Rookie
Yep, it'll be in Glasgow, indoors, on hard court. Queen's, and even Centre Court at SW19, will be frozen over by then.
Hansie
Guest
What about Groth's efforts in chest bumping Hewitt? He just about knocked Hewitt into the grandstand.
Ra
Guest
Telling us why Akari ??? And the paying Australian and World viewing public would want to fork out big dollars to watch that clown perform ??
Lester
Guest
Glasgow for a GB game sounds like a recipe for crowd disaster. Will certainly be hijacked by the flag obsessed unionists.
Dianne Andrews
Guest
Agree, good call by Wally! With Sam and Lleyton you know that you're going to get 110% effort, so well done Sam
Winston
Guest
I'm sick of people saying he's wasting his talent. He's not that good, and he doesn't have that much talent!! He's already reached the highest world ranking he's capable of. And now that he's turning out to be an evil brat, let's all just move on and forget about him. Whatever he does now, he won't get any endorsements from any reputable brands. He's screwed. Let's go find our next up and comer.
ken oldman
Guest
'Apologise' to Tomic....what for?..surely you must be a relative to think like that.....Groth deserves another chance for sure imo. and T.A. should stick with the Darwin heroes who showed just what passion we can come up with when representing Australia.and the chips are down
While we're at it
Guest
There is absolutely nothing to apologise about by Rafter to that young upstart Tomic. The kid who was crying poor about having to pay for his own tennis balls and court hire. The same idiot who, whilst paying $9,000 per night for a hotel suite, managed to get arrested. The guy who managed to make the whole incident someone elses fault, "they didn't give me enough time to leave the room", "the music wasn't that loud. Seriously, the kid is delusional. TA was spot on. He can come back, they have already said that, but if he plays up or acts up, or speaks so poorly of TA, ban him again. Too many people have been telling this kid for too long that he is going to be the world no 1. And for too long he has believed the hype. He will never get there without a change in attitude toward authority, as well as a change in his commitment to being the best player he can be. Until that happens he will be a kid with promise. At his age Lleyton had won 2 grand slam tournaments, along with many others. Tomic has won 2 tournaments. If he was honest with himself he would admit it is a poor return for someone with his talent.
Jon B
Guest
These kids don't realize it yet but Pat Rafter is doing them a favor. Indeed, he's doing what their fathers should have done...taken them to task for their poor behavior. Once they mature they'll one day go and thank Rafter for what he's already done and I hope continues to do...give them a dose of humility and set an expectation of standards that are not negotiable.
Mark
Guest
Sam Groth's efforts in both the doubles and especially the singles yesterday against seasoned pro Kukushkin cannot be understated. Lleyton seems to be getting all the press but if not for Groth, the tie would be have been lost. Also, not sure GB will go grass at Queens again for the semi. Given it's in mid-September (so summer well and truly over!) and after the US Open, indoor hard court in Glasgow might be the way to go.
Akari
Roar Rookie
Pat Rafter should man-up, apologise to Tomic and get Team Australia back as one. After his performance yesterday, there is no doubt that the old warrior, Lleyton Hewitt, should be one of the singles. Then again, Australia needs and must have all their players ready for the finals.