Humble hero Thanasi Kokkinakis is hailing Lleyton Hewitt as "the best coach in the world" after the injury-plagued talent answered a courageous captain's call with a Davis Cup win for the ages in Spain.
Kokkinakis held his nerve to fend off four match points and mercurial American grand slam semi-finalist Ben Shelton to prevail 6-1 4-6 7-6 (16-14) in one of the longest tiebreakers in Davis Cup history.
The epic victory, which came on his seventh match point, gave Australia a vital 1-0 lead in the quarter-final tie in Malaga after Hewitt surprisingly thrust Kokkinakis into the opening rubber ahead of the in-form and higher-ranked Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson.
