Humble hero Thanasi Kokkinakis is hailing Lleyton Hewitt as “the best coach in the world” after the injury-plagued talent answered a courageous captain’s call with a Davis Cup win for the ages in Spain.

Kokkinakis held his nerve to fend off four match points and mercurial American grand slam semi-finalist Ben Shelton to prevail 6-1 4-6 7-6 (16-14) in one of the longest tiebreakers in Davis Cup history.

The epic victory, which came on his seventh match point, gave Australia a vital 1-0 lead in the quarter-final tie in Malaga after Hewitt surprisingly thrust Kokkinakis into the opening rubber ahead of the in-form and higher-ranked Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson.

Kokkinakis, though, was the undoubted – and unexpected – star.

Hewitt continued to back him, despite the 28-year-old being ranked more than 50 places below both Popyrin and Thompson.

Kokkinakis was fresh off winning this month’s NSW Open ATP Challenger Tour event in Sydney after also upsetting 2023 Australian Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas at the US Open in September.

But Kokkinakis said playing for Hewitt and his country helped take his game to new levels after withstanding 21 aces from Shelton in one of the most mature displays of the South Australian’s rollercoaster career.

“Seeing the boys on the sidelines, seeing Lleyton, obviously an idol growing up, getting super fired up and in my ear keeping me going motivated, I think it’s massive,” he said.

“He’s probably, I’d say, the best coach in the world for me. He kind of always tries to get the most out of myself, and he brings a sort of level and intensity and effort from me that I find it hard to replicate anywhere else.

“It’s great playing for him and, as a captain, when someone like that tells you something, it’s not too often you can say anything back because he’s been there and done it all.”

Hewitt now faces another crucial captaincy call as Australia take on defending champions Italy in a rematch of last year’s Cup final.

The skipper must be tempted to rest the jaded Alex de Minaur, who possesses a diabolical none-from-eight record against Italy’s rampant world No.1 Jannik Sinner.

If he does sit de Minaur out, Popyrin, as Australia’s second-ranked player, would be thrust into a showdown with Sinner.

That would leave Kokkinakis – or world No.26 Thompson – to likely face the 17th-ranked Lorenzo Musetti in the opening singles match on Saturday night.

With AAP