MALAGA, Nov 21: Australia reached the Davis Cup semifinals for the third consecutive year, eliminating the United States 2-1 when Matt Ebden and Jordan Thompson beat the surprise, last-minute pairing of Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-4 in the deciding doubles match on Thursday.
28-time Davis Cup champion Australia will face defending champion Italy or Argentina on Saturday for a spot in the final of the annual team competition.
The other semifinal, to be contested Friday, is the Netherlands against Germany. The Australians were the runners-up the past two years, including in 2023 against Italy, which is led by No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner.
The Americans own a record 32 Davis Cup titles but haven’t been to the semifinals since 2018 and haven’t claimed the title since 2007, their longest drought in the event.
The Shelton-Paul substitution for Paris Olympics silver medalists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram was announced about 15 minutes before the doubles match began. Ebden and John Peers beat Krajicek and Ram in the Summer Games final in August.
The Australians broke once in each set of the doubles. In the second, they stole one of Shelton’s service games on the fourth break opportunity when Ebden’s overhead smash made it 5-4.
Thompson then served out the victory, closing it with a service winner before chest-bumping Ebden.
The 21st-ranked Shelton made his Davis Cup debut earlier Thursday in singles against 77th-ranked Thanasi Kokkinakis, who emerged from a tight-as-can-be tiebreaker by saving four match points and eventually converting his seventh to win 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (14).
No. 4 Taylor Fritz, the U.S. Open runner-up, then pulled the Americans even with a far more straightforward victory over No. 9 Alex de Minaur, 6-3, 6-4.
When their match finally ended, on a backhand by Shelton that landed long, Kokkinakis dropped onto his back and pounded his chest.
After he rose, he threw a ball into the stands, then walked over to Australia’s sideline, spiked his racket and yelled, before hugging captain Lleyton Hewitt. (PTI)
