‘Not what Davis Cup is about’: Hewitt unhappy with surface after final defeat

Lleyton Hewitt says he is sick of playing on the surface used for the Davis Cup in Malaga, continuing to rail against the homogenised format after Australia’s defeat to Italy in the final.

Australia have lost the past two Davis Cup finals on an indoor hardcourt in Spain, with the International Tennis Federation already confirming next year’s event will also be held there.

Lleyton Hewitt is not happy with the lack of variation of playing surfaces.

Hewitt, who was an integral part of Australia’s 1999 and 2003 titles, holds the country’s Davis Cup record for total match wins, singles matches won and most ties played.

The key difference between Hewitt’s playing heyday and his current role as team captain is the home-and-away element has disappeared, beyond the initial qualifying stage.

“It’s been a great week, in terms of our performance, and we gave ourselves an opportunity,” Hewitt said.

“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.

“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, outdoor elements.

“It’s obviously pretty frustrating, I think, that we don’t get all the different surfaces and conditions throughout Davis Cup anymore, and especially in the big matches, as well.”

Both Hewitt and Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur hailed Italian superstar Jannik Sinner’s brilliant form, but also highlighted that the Malaga court and conditions favoured him.

Australia’s most-recent Davis Cup triumph two decades ago came on a makeshift grass court at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena, against a team of Spanish claycourters.

The home-court advantage, which interchanged between meetings, presented a unique element to the old Davis Cup format.

Russian great Yevgeny Kafelnikov infamously dubbed a Brisbane Davis Cup surface a “potato field” and “pathetic” after losing to Australia’s Wayne Arthurs in the 1999 semi-finals.

Arthurs, who also aired his disappointment about the format in an interview with this masthead on Sunday, did not mince his words at the time in response to Kafelnikov.

“I don’t care what he thinks. We’re the ones leading 2-0. He can go home crying if he likes,” Arthurs said.

Australia dealt with the same challenges, with one of Hewitt’s greatest Davis Cup performances being his straight-sets defeat of Gustavo Kuerten in Brazil on a claycourt.

That result snapped the triple French Open champion’s 26-match streak on the red dirt in the 2001 quarter-finals.

Australian agony

Australia’s 2023 Davis Cup final defeat was their second straight, as they fell to Sinner’s Italy without the doubles needing to be played.

Sinner sealed the Italians’ second Davis Cup title, and first in 47 years, with a sixth win in as many meetings with Australia’s No.1 de Minaur. Earlier, countryman Matteo Arnaldi outlasted Alexei Popyrin in a tense three-setter that left Hewitt’s squad in a huge hole.

“It has been an incredible feeling for all of us, and obviously, we are really happy,” Sinner said on Sunday (Monday AEDT). “Yesterday, we were one point away from being out [against Serbia in the semi-finals], and now we can celebrate a win.”

The Italian team celebrates in Malaga.

Australia last won the title in 2003, against Spain in Melbourne. However, just like 12 months earlier against Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, Australia were unable to win either of their singles rubbers in Malaga, Spain.

“It’s obviously disappointing for the boys … [to] come awfully close yet again,” Hewitt said.

“The first match out there today could have gone either way – Alexei did great. He created plenty of opportunities and was probably a point away quite a few times, to be honest. It’s a completely different situation going into the second match 1-0 up.

“Jannik played awesome all week … [and] showed why he’s a top three or four player in the world. He backed up what he did yesterday against Novak [Djokovic] and played extremely good tennis.

“I’m super proud of all the boys and the support staff and the team. We did absolutely everything we possibly could have, and we have come agonisingly close yet again.”

De Minaur started in typically high-octane fashion and with a clear strategy to get to the net whenever possible, but the long-limbed Sinner absorbed the early onslaught before posting a runaway 6-3, 6-0 victory.

The jubilant Italians mobbed Sinner on court after de Minaur sprayed a backhand wide on the third match point.

Sinner, coached by Australia’s Darren Cahill, plundered 25 winners to 15 against de Minaur, who will need to regroup in the off-season to discover a way to attack a player who has become the hottest ticket in men’s tennis.

“Novak [Djokovic] said maybe a week ago [that] Jannik is riding this amazing wave of confidence,” de Minaur said.

Alex de Minaur lost in straight sets to Jannik Sinner.

“He’s playing in indoor conditions with some heavy balls, where he can hit the absolute crap out of the ball. He’s seriously impressive, the level he’s showing.

“Again, I will find ways to get better, to be able to hurt these types of players. Today, I just didn’t have enough, and I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to give the boys a chance to play the doubles yet another year. That’s probably the biggest disappointment.”

The triumph caps Sinner’s career-best year, which led him to world No.4 in the rankings, a maiden Masters 1000 title – over de Minaur in Toronto – the ATP Finals decider and two wins over Djokovic in a month, which included saving triple match point in the Davis Cup semi-finals.

Italy’s campaign would have ended if Sinner had not climbed from the canvas against Djokovic, and he returned to perform a key role in a doubles win that clinched his country’s passage to the final.

The 22-year-old is yet to win a grand slam title but will fancy his chances heading into next year’s Australian Open, where Djokovic is unbeaten since 2018.

Sinner’s red-hot form and unblemished record against de Minaur meant Popyrin’s clash was crucial to Australia’s hopes.

The Australian camp was confident of winning the title if it could split the singles and hand the final job to 2022 Wimbledon doubles champions Matt Ebden and Max Purcell, but Popyrin’s 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 loss to Arnaldi left de Minaur needing to cause a major boilover.

The defeat will go down as the toughest of Popyrin’s career to date. He failed to convert eight break points in the deciding set across four Arnaldi service games, many of them after establishing a foothold in the point.

Alexei Popyrin is consoled by Lleyton Hewitt after his defeat.

Arnaldi required just one match point, breaking Popyrin in the final game and putting Italy 1-0 up when he drilled a down-the-line backhand that the Australian could not control from the net.

“I felt like I was in control from the second set onwards,” Popyrin said. “I had break points every single game in the third set, so it’s heartbreaking. I let it slip, and that’s something in Davis Cup finals – it hurts. It’s just painful that I couldn’t get us off on the right foot.”

Australia will not have to qualify for next year’s Davis Cup finals thanks to reaching the decider again, and have become one of the strongest nations in men’s tennis during Hewitt’s reign.

De Minaur, Popyrin, Purcell, Jordan Thompson, Aleks Vukic, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Chris O’Connell and Rinky Hijikata are all ranked inside the ATP Tour’s top 100, while Jason Kubler and James Duckworth are just outside.

Hewitt will hope to convince the injured and unranked Nick Kyrgios to end his Davis Cup exile, which stretches to 2019, assuming the swashbuckling Canberran returns to his best.

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