Captain Lleyton Hewitt is hopeful of having Australia's Davis Cup talisman Alex de Minaur back, fit and firing, for their daunting title quest in the Malaga finals.
Thursday's draw for the Cup's 'final 8' week at the Spanish venue in November has thrown up a forbidding task for Hewitt's team, with a quarter-final against a powerful US side first up and champions Italy then most likely to be awaiting them in the semis should they overcome that hurdle.
It was Italy, fired by the brilliant Jannik Sinner, who beat Australia for the title in 2023, the second year in a row that Hewitt's men had lost in the final of the event which is effectively the World Cup of men's tennis.