Inspired captaincy, a nerve-shredding underdog's win for Thanasi Kokkinakis and good old-fashioned Australian doubles pedigree has powered Australia to a shock 2-1 win over the USA and into the Davis Cup semi-finals in Spain.
Lleyton Hewitt outduelled his American counterpart Bob Bryan in the key captaincy calls of their quarter-final tie in Malaga as 28-times winners Australia defeated the 32-time champs in the battle between the two most successful nations in the historic men's 'World Cup of tennis'.
First, Hewitt plumped for the daring choice of world No.77 Kokkinakis to open proceedings against big-hitting left-hander Ben Shelton, ranked 56 places higher, and the in-form Aussie outsider came up trumps after saving four match points to prevail in an epic deciding tiebreaker 6-1 4-6 7-6 (16-14).
