As Australia’s Davis Cup captain, Lleyton Hewitt loved it.
But as a tennis fan, he’s not so sure.
Hewitt spares a thought for fans feeling somewhat short-changed by Australia’s clinical wins against Bosnia and Herzegovina on day one of their Davis Cup tie.
John Millman and Alex de Minaur took just 168 minutes in total at Adelaide’s Memorial Drive on Friday to give Australia a 2-0 lead.
Both won in straight sets – Millman hammered top-ranked Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, 6-3 6-2, and de Minaur followed with a 6-3 7-6 (7-0) victory against Mirza Basic.
In changes this year to the cup format, the rubbers were best-of-three sets, rather than the traditional best-of-five format.
Hewitt is rapt with the victories. But he also feels for fans used to longer Davis Cup days.
“For the crowd, it probably disappoints me a little bit,” Hewitt said.
“No Davis Cup match is easy. Even if the rankings are complete opposite with some guys, it’s still bloody hard to go out and win a best-of-five in straight sets.
“So quite often in Davis Cup, you’re not going to see two straight-sets wins in best-of-five (format).
“I guess you’re so used to a Davis Cup day, especially day one – I have sat there quite often for a lot of hours – it can be six or seven hours long.
“On the other hand, we have got to do absolutely everything in our power to get the job done.”
Hewitt warned against any Australian complacency on Saturday when doubles pair John Peers and Jordan Thompson can wrap up the tie.
A Peers-Thompson win would secure Australia’s ticket to the finals featuring 18 nations to be held over one week in November in Madrid.
But Hewitt refuses to think of that just yet.
“Right now, we’re focusing on the doubles – and it’s not going to be an easy doubles match,” he said.
“Very rarely is a Davis Cup doubles match straight-forward …. and best-of-three tiebreak sets, anything can happen.”