Aleksandar Vukic has joined the squad to potentially play singles alongside Alex de Minaur in Australia’s Davis Cup Qualifier tie in Stockholm.
Stockholm, Sweden, 30 January 2025 | Dan Imhoff
Lleyton Hewitt has full faith a revised Davis Cup team for Australia’s Qualifier tie against Sweden at the weekend will get the job done.
Abdominal and wrist issues for Nick Kyrgios and lower-leg and foot injuries for Jordan Thompson have opened the door for Aleksandar Vukic to make his debut, while doubles specialists Matthew Ebden and John Peers have returned for duty alongside spearhead Alex de Minaur.
One of the heroes of Australia’s Davis Cup quarterfinal win over the USA, Thanasi Kokkinakis, has also travelled with the team for the tie, which begins at the Royal Tennis Hall in Stockholm on Saturday, 1 February (AEDT).
“Nick won’t be coming here. He’s suffered a couple of injuries through the Australian summer,” Australian captain Hewitt said. “I was excited to think of the potential for him to be back in the Davis Cup team, but it wasn’t to be and obviously he’s very underdone with his body, so it’s not surprising he’s got an injury trying to play five-set tennis straight away without many matches.
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“Hopefully, fingers crossed, we get through and he may be an option down the track.
“I’m very happy and confident with the squad that I have at my disposal. Very proud of the guys too to be honest because they make it a priority to play for Australia … It’s not an easy time for us.
“We’ve had a lot of pressure and expectation playing in Australia and then straight away hop on a plane and make this a priority.”
Leo Borg, son of the great Bjorn Borg, spearheads the Swedish team, which will also include former world No.50 Mikael Ymer, who makes his return following an 18-month anti-doping ban.
The 26-year-old Ymer last week won his first event back at an ITF M25 event in Luxembourg.
“He’s a quality player. We have to be ready for him,” Hewitt said. “Obviously he came in and played a Futures [ITF event] last week and had success, but he’s a lot better player than playing Futures. For me it’s about preparing my players as well as possible and I fully back my players to go out there and get the job done.”
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Australia leads the head-to-head between the two nations 7-3, but Sweden won their most recent clash in the World Group first round in Adelaide in 2004 when Hewitt claimed Australia’s sole victory over Robin Soderling in a 4-1 defeat to a team that also included Thomas Enqvist, Jonas Bjorkman and Joachim Johansson.
“Two great tennis nations that have had a lot of success and a lot of hard-fought matches over the years,” Hewitt said. “One of my greatest memories is ’86 when Australia was able to beat Sweden in the final and a guy that I idolised, Pat Cash, had one of his greatest moments. You need two good nations going together to make something as special as that and that really got me into Davis Cup and what it meant to play for Australia.
“I’ve got a good relationship with all the past Swedish players I’ve battled against. I’ve played Sweden in some big Davis Cup matches myself.”
ORDER OF PLAY
Saturday, 1 February (AEDT): Two singles matches from 3am (AEDT)
Sunday, 2 February (AEDT): Two reverse singles matches and a doubles match from 11pm (AEDT)
HOW TO WATCH
Australia’s Davis Cup Qualifier first-round tie can be watched live and free on 9Gem and 9Now.
Find your way to play: Visit play.tennis.com.au to hit the court and have some fun!
