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Lleyton Hewitt has declared his close-knit tennis band of brothers will give it \u201ca hell of a shake\u201d to bring back the Davis Cup to Australia after they roared into another final in Malaga.<\/p>\n
Following their 2-0 victory over Finland in Friday\u2019s semi-final, executed superbly without a dropped set in singles wins for Alexei Popyrin and Alex de Minaur, team captain Hewitt said he couldn\u2019t be prouder of their achievement in making back-to-back finals.<\/p>\n
And even though they\u2019ll be facing either a Serbian side led by world No.1 Novak Djokovic or an Italian team inspired by young superstar Jannik Sinner in Sunday\u2019s (Monday AEDT) final, the inspirational de Minaur was adamant: \u201cNo one really wants to play us.\u201d<\/p>\n
He delivered once more for Australia, taking an 11th victory in his last 13 cup singles matches, sealing Friday\u2019s (Saturday AEDT) win by defeating Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 6-3.<\/p>\n
It had followed a superb win from teammate Popyrin, who defied jangling nerves to earn a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory over Otto Virtanen.<\/p>\n
It meant the Australians\u2019 crack doubles team of Max Purcell and Matt Ebden weren\u2019t even needed.<\/p>\n
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Alexei Popyrin celebrates with Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt after his Davis Cup win.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n Naturally, it will be a tall order against Serbia or Italy on the fast-paced hard court at the Palacio de deportes Martin Carpena, but Hewitt has de Minaur, a man who just keeps growing in stature in the gold-and-green, to call on as 28-time champions Australia, in a 49th final, seek a first win in the World Cup of men\u2019s tennis in 20 years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a very solid squad, a lot of depth in every single position, and if we can get ourselves to a deciding doubles, we\u2019ve got an unbelievable pairing as well,\u201d said de Minaur.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we singles guys have just got do our best to try and get a win and let the doubles guys do the job.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully we can go one better this year,\u201d he added, recalling the 2-0 defeat by Canada in 2022.<\/p>\n Alex de Minaur stretches to return the ball against Finland\u2019s Emil Ruusuvuori.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n De Minaur had been the hero on Wednesday, pulling out an extraordinary comeback win over Jiri Lehecka with Australia on the verge of defeat in their quarter-final with the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n But he was happy to pass the laurels to Popyrin, a late squad replacement who\u2019d been asked to take on the troublesome \u201csecond singles\u201d role by Hewitt.<\/p>\n \u201cAlexei hasn\u2019t played for Australia in a very long time [two years], had a massive match today against a very high-quality opponent and dug super deep,\u201d said de Minaur.<\/p>\n Popyrin managed to deliver a rock solid game, making only 11 unforced errors to his erratic opponent\u2019s 25, to prevail in just under an hour-and-a-half.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was probably the biggest win of my career,\u201d he admitted. \u201cTo win a match that means so much to us, it\u2019s an honour and something I\u2019ll never forget. Nothing compares to this.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I was ready but when I came out and heard the two sets of fans chanting so hard, but it was nerves that I\u2019ve never experienced before.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t easy. The pressure was on with Thanasi Kokkinakis, the injured teammate he\u2019d replaced, Purcell and Jordan Thompson having all lost opening singles ties in this year\u2019s competition, and Popyrin struggled too against a big-hitting 22-year-old going for broke.<\/p>\n But after repelling a set point in the opening stanza, Popyrin\u2019s solidity in comparison to his increasingly erratic opponent helped silence a noisy contingent of Finnish fans, who\u2019d been hoping to cheer their underdogs to a first-ever final.<\/p>\n De Minaur, cheered on by his excited mum, then didn\u2019t need similar heroics to Wednesday\u2019s as he overcame the loss of the first two games.<\/p>\n With relentless flat-hitting accuracy, he then dominated Finland\u2019s only top-100 ranked player Ruusuvuori, who\u2019d been passed fit to play after missing their sensational quarter-final win over champions Canada on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n