Alex de Minaur leads the Australian Davis Cup team to a 2-0 victory against Finland in the semifinals.
Malaga, Spain, 24 November 2023 | Leigh Rogers
For the first time in 22 years, the Australian team has advanced to back-to-back Davis Cup finals.
Alex de Minaur played a starring role, once again, for the Aussies in a commanding 2-0 semifinal triumph against Finland at Malaga.
The Australian No.1 recorded a 6-4 6-3 victory against Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori to secure his team’s place in the final.
“What we’ve been able to accomplish in back-to-back years is very special,” De Minaur said.
“I’m very happy to be in another final.”
World No.69 Ruusuvuori made a blistering start, winning the opening two games to immediately heap the pressure on his higher-ranked opponent.
But a tenacious De Minaur did not panic, working his way into the match with his signature grit and determination.
It is De Minaur’s fourth singles win of Australia’s Davis Cup campaign this season and extends his career singles record in the prestigious team competition to 15 wins from 21 matches.
Earlier in the tie, Alexei Popyrin provided the Australian team with a perfect start.
The 24-year-old posted his career-first win in a live Davis Cup rubber, overcoming Finland’s Otto Virtanen 7-6(5) 6-2 in the opening singles match.
“It’s everybody’s dream to play for their country,” Popyrin said.
“So for me it really was the biggest moment of my career to get the first live rubber win, to get one foot into the final. It is something that I’ll never forget.”
A nervous Popyrin was tested early against the world No.171 and had to save a set point in the 12th game of the opening set.
Thankfully, Popyrin’s confidence grew as the match went on and the world No.40 managed to close out the 89-minute encounter with four consecutive games.
“It’s nerves that I have never experienced before in my life,” Popyrin admitted.
“I just had to keep my head steady and just really focus on my serve and try to capitalise on opportunities when they came.
“It’s something that I have been working on a lot, this year especially, working on calming myself during tense moments, during times I’m nervous, realising when I’m nervous and accepting that I’m nervous, and really trying to just tell myself, trick myself into just staying calm and just focus on what I have to do point-by-point, technical-wise, and when I’m serving.
“It really worked. It really helped me out today. It just goes to show that the work that I have been doing throughout the whole year paid off.”
Australia becomes the first nation to reach consecutive Davis Cup final appearances since France in 2017 and 2018.
“The boys have done all the hard work, they deserve all these results,” Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt said. “To back up what we did last year, it’s pretty special.”
Serbia, led by world No.1 Novak Djokovic, and Italy, spearheaded by world No.4 Jannik Sinner, are still to face-off in the other semifinal.
The winner advances to a final showdown against Australia on Sunday 26 November in Spain (from 2am AEDT on Monday 27 November), which will be broadcast live in Australia on the Nine Network.
The Australian team is aiming to win the Davis Cup title for the first time since 2003.
Davis Cup, semifinals
AUSTRALIA d FINLAND 2-0
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) d Otto Virtanen (FIN) 7-6(5) 6-2
Alex de Minaur (AUS) d Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) 6-4 6-3
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