{"id":421232,"date":"2024-09-10T04:33:40","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T04:33:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=421232"},"modified":"2024-09-10T07:11:15","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T07:11:15","slug":"aussies-hit-by-injury-blow-ahead-of-group-of-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=421232","title":{"rendered":"Aussies hit by injury blow ahead of group of death"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lleyton Hewitt<\/a> has full confidence his Davis Cup<\/a> team will survive an "awfully tough group" despite the absence of their top-ranked star. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Alex de Minaur<\/a>'s withdrawal is a heavy blow for the Australian team, which is looking to bid farewell to a 21-year title drought in the tournament.<\/p>\n

A lingering hip injury has compromised the world number 11 in recent tournaments, causing him to pull out of the Wimbledon<\/a> quarter finals and men's singles draw at the Olympics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Gould refuses to guarantee Foxx's future after drug arrest<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Slater's plea to injury-plagued Roosters on eve of finals<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Players dealt blow after NRL scheduling call<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

De Minaur battled the injury to qualify for the US Open quarter finals, where he was defeated in straight sets by Great Britain's Jack Draper.<\/p>\n

Hewitt, the team captain, confirmed de Minaur would remain sidelined for the group stage in France, set to start on Wednesday (AEST).<\/p>\n

"Alex has done some incredible stuff in the Davis Cup over the last three or four years," he said.<\/p>\n

"But he's been battling since Wimbledon and he hasn't really been close to 100 per cent. He was desperate to play, but in the end it really wasn't much of a choice."<\/p>\n

\"De<\/p>\n

Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Max Purcell and Matt Ebden are set to take centre stage for Australia in France on Tuesday evening (AEST).<\/p>\n

The team will face Group B rivals France, Czech Republic and Spain.<\/p>\n

Hewitt brushed off any concerns with his team without de Minaur, \ufeffpointing to the results and form showcased by its members at the US Open. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"I've got so much belief in the five guys here with me," he said.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffThey know how much confidence I have in them as individuals. I think they've all had stellar careers. This year on a personal note as well – some massive highlights.<\/p>\n

"We are going to back ourselves \ufeffagainst anyone. These guys put in the hard yards, not just this week leading into this, but throughout the year. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"\ufeffIt's a tough group, but I think any match in Davis Cup is tough.<\/p>\n

"They'll be full of confidence when we start.<\/p>\n

"I expect us to go out there and compete hard and play well, and I think we're a good shot."<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

Hewitt admitted his team will need to be in top form to remain a leading contender to win the tournament.<\/p>\n

"[Depth of talent] It's \ufeffa good problem to have. These boys know it's going to be a team effort, as it has been the last couple of years," said Hewitt.<\/p>\n

"You want to put yourself in the position to have a chance of winning it. For a number of years we were in the wilderness a bit and didn't have the opportunity to have a chance of trying to hold up the trophy.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffThe last couple of years we've put ourselves in that position. We know what it feels like, we're going to be better for the experience.<\/p>\n

"That's the plus side, but we've fallen one match short, and that's why we're here again this year to have another crack."\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"Aussie<\/p>\n

Australia has not played since its 2023 final defeat to Italy, which saw the team earn direction qualification into the 2024 Davis Cup Finals Group Stage.<\/p>\n

\ufeffHewitt's team will open their group games against France in the early hours of Wednesday morning, before facing Czech Republic on Thursday, September 12 (AEST).<\/p>\n

Carlos Alcaraz will return to action at the tournament with two grand slam titles under his belt, facing Australia at 7pm (AEST) on Sunday, September 15.<\/p>\n

The top two teams from the group stage will advance to the knockout stage in November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lleyton Hewitt has full confidence his Davis Cup team will survive an "awfully tough group" despite the absence of their top-ranked star. \ufeff Alex de […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":421234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=421232"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":421238,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421232\/revisions\/421238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/421234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=421232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=421232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=421232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}