Rising tennis teen Thanasi Kokkinakis will lead Australia’s Davis Cup side into battle in the Czech Republic after newly-appointed captain Wally Masur pulled a selection surprise.
In a further sign of a changing of the guard within Australia tennis, 18-year-old Kokkinakis will open the nation’s 2015 World Group campaign in singles against a Czech team missing big gun Tomas Berdych, with veteran Lleyton Hewitt saved for Saturday’s doubles.
World number 135 Kokkinakis, who only earned a call-up to the squad after Nick Kyrgios withdrew with injury, will face Czech number one Lukas Rosol in the opening singles rubber of the best-of-five tie on Saturday morning (AEDT) before Australian spearhead Bernard Tomic takes on fellow young gun Jiri Vesely.
Kokkinakis is not daunted by the prospect of contesting his first live match in front of a parochial Czech crowd at Cez Arena.
“It’s a really important (match) but I’ve been training and playing well over the last few weeks and I really can’t wait to get out there,” Kokkinakis said.
Australia, 28-time champion, is chasing its first victory in the competition’s top tier since 2006, having ended a long wait to return to the top 16 last year.
A win would set up a home quarter-final against either Italy or Kazakhstan in July.
Source: Kathimerini