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.
Sinner hammered Australia's No.1 de Minaur in that tie at the Jose Maria Martin Carpena indoor arena, continuing his unbeaten domination over the Sydneysider which he's subsequently increased to a 7-0 head-to-head advantage during this season.
But the world no.11 'Demon', who has been battling to get back to his best since suffering a Wimbledon-ending hip injury in July and was left out of last week's Davis Cup finals qualifying tournament in Valencia to help his recuperation, remains absolutely key to Hewitt's hopes.
Asked about de Minaur's potential schedule during the two-month spell leading up to the finals week, Hewitt explained in Valencia: "Still working through that with him, and it's been a tough period for Alex.
"So you've got to take your hat off to to him for the effort he's put in. He was not even close to 100 per cent (at the US Open) but to make a quarter-final of a grand slam, that's competing.
"So he did bloody well, and he's going to do everything to get back as quickly as possible. As for the timeframe, I'm not sure yet."
In the quarters, the USA-Australia tie will be a collision between the two teams who have won the World Cup of men's tennis more times than any other.
Hewitt's 28-time winners, who are seeking their first title in 21 years, will face Bob Bryan's Americans, the record 32-time champs who are also seeking to end a 17-year-old victory drought.
The Final 8 draw! Who are you backing?! 👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/YCqAr39Mtr
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 19, 2024
If Australia can overcome a US team who can currently boast five men in the world's top 20 - Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda, Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton - it will be no comfort to know world No.1 Sinner, the Australian and US Open champ, may be awaiting them in the semis should Italy beat Argentina.
But with a strong back-up in the shape of two world top-30 players in the soaring Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson, and a world-beating doubles pairing of Max Purcell and Matt Ebden, the Aussies will fancy they can beat anyone.
On the other side of the draw, Germany will face 2022 champions Canada, while Netherlands play hosts Spain, who defeated Australia in the group stages last week even without their own star man Carlos Alcaraz, who was rested.
