Aussies set to win Czech Davis Cup tie

A Davis Cup star was born as teenager Thanasi Kokkinakis produced a stirring comeback to help put Australia on the brink of a drought-breaking World Group victory in the Czech Republic.

The 18-year-old, playing in his first live rubber in front of a parochial crowd in Ostrava, came from two sets down on Friday to upset Czech No.1 Lukas Rosol 4-6 2-6 7-5 7-5 6-3 in three-and-a-half hours.

Australian No.1 Bernard Tomic then backed it up with an impressive 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-5) win over Jiri Vesely to hand Australia a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five first-round tie on the Cez Arena indoor hardcourt.

The dream first-day performance gives veteran Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth the chance to secure victory over the competition’s top seeds inside two days when they team up for Saturday’s doubles rubber, with Australia chasing a quarter-final berth and a first win in the competition’s top tier since 2006.

Kokkinakis’ performance vindicated a bold selection decision by newly appointed captain Wally Masur to hand the world No.133 his chance in the opening singles ahead of Davis Cup legend Hewitt and the higher-ranked Groth.

But Masur admitted he feared the risk had backfired as Rosol served for the match up 5-4 in the third set.

“I thought he (Kokkinakis) was gone, to be honest. Everything was happening so quickly in those first two sets,” Masur said of Kokkinakis, who was also a break down in the final set.

“It was a bit of a risk and I was sitting there for a while thinking, ‘oh god, I’ve outsmarted myself’.

“But we did believe in Thanasi and believed he could get the win.

“It’s a good situation we’re in now and Lleyton and Sam have been playing really well.”

Kokkinakis only came into the squad after fellow young gun Nick Kyrgios withdrew due to a back injury, but he showed the kind of fighting spirit his legendary teammate Hewitt is renowned for in recovering from a nervy start and seemingly insurmountable deficit.

Kokkinakis rode a wave of home support to upset 13th seed Ernests Gulbis in the first round of this year’s Australian Open, but faced a barrage of horns and drums from a raucous Czech crowd in pulling off what he rated as the win of his career so far on Friday.

“I had the drums going straight in my ear and they were going on for ages,” Kokkinakis said of the noisy Czech supporters, who drowned out the chants of a small travelling group of Australian Fanatics.

“I kind of wanted to turn and rub it in at the end but I thought I’d keep it to myself a little bit.”

“It was a big call by (Masur) but I’m happy he had the faith in me and happy I got the job done.”

World No.38 Tomic continued a strong start to the season, overcoming a few concentration lapses to defeat 45th-ranked Vesely in two hours and 28 minutes and extend his Davis Cup singles record to an impressive 13-2.

“Tennis is a lot about fitness and confidence and I’ve played a lot of tennis over the last few weeks,” Tomic said.

“I’m really in that motion of feeling good and playing good.”

Vesely and Rosol might back up in Saturday’s doubles for the Czechs, who are missing big guns Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.

Having ended a long wait to return to the competition’s top 16 last year, a win in this weekend’s tie would earn 28-time champions Australia a home quarter-final against Italy or Kazakhstan.

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