Australia, Serbia close in on Davis Cup finals

Former champions Australia and Serbia both took commanding 2-0 leads after the first day of qualifying for the revamped Davis Cup finals yesterday. Alex De Minaur and John Millman eased to straight-set victories in Adelaide as Lleyton Hewitt’s Australia dominated Bosnia, while Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic claimed wins for Serbia against Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

Former world number one Hewitt has been critical of the new Davis Cup format, slamming Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique, whose investment group has led the changes. The Australia captain earlier this week said it was like him “coming out asking to change things for the Champions League”, but his team had little trouble yesterday.

Millman, who stunned Roger Federer at last year’s US Open, brushed aside Bosnian number one Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-2, before rising star De Minaur beat Mirza Basic 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) to claim his first Davis Cup win. “It’s a dream come true for me, and I’m so happy I finally was able to get a win for my country in Davis Cup,” said the 19-year-old De Minaur.

Hewitt’s decision to leave out Nick Kyrgios was vindicated as Millman also claimed his maiden point after making his debut in the 2017 semi-final loss to Belgium.