After Australia’s loss to Italy in the final, former tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt expressed his frustration with the uniformed format and stated he was tired of playing on the Davis Cup field in Malaga.
Australia has not won the Davis Cup in its last two meetings, which took place in Spain on indoor hard courts. The International Tennis Federation has already confirmed that the tournament will return to Spain the following year.
Hewitt and Australian No. 1 Alex de Minaur both praised Italian sensation Jannik Sinner’s outstanding play, but they also pointed out that the court and circumstances in Malaga were in his favor.
Hewitt expressed his thoughts after the match and said: “It’s been a great week in terms of our performance, and we gave ourselves an opportunity. Malaga has put on a great event in terms of what they can do with the format that they’ve got—their hands are tied. There’s no home-and-away and there’s no best of five sets, so it’s not ideal.”
He further added his remarks about the playing conditions and said: “We are playing on a surface that I’m really sick of playing on, to be honest. That’s not what Davis Cup is about—it’s playing on clay, grass, and outdoor elements. It’s obviously pretty frustrating, I think, that we don’t get all the different surfaces and conditions throughout the Davis Cup anymore, and especially in the big matches as well.”
Lleyton Hewitt in 2023
LW At the moment ranked no., the Australian played his last match on the 21st of January 2016 when he was defeated by David Ferrer 6-2 6-4 6-4 in the 2nd round of the Australian Open (draw).
Currently, during this year Lleyton has a compiled 1-1 win-loss record.
Alex De Minaur in 2023
At the moment ranked no.12, Alex played his last match on the 26th of November when he was defeated by world no.4 Jannik Sinner 6-3 6-0 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).
Currently, during this season the Australian achieved a composed 46-26 match record. Alex clinched 1 title in Acapulco. The Australian got to the final in London, Los Cabos and Toronto.
Lleyton Hewitt and Alex De Minaur have never clashed against each other.
Lleyton Hewitt and Alex De Minaur |
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