Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin to lead Australian Davis Cup team for Sydney clash with Belgium

Australia’s top three ranked male players headlined by Alex de Minaur will fly the flag in the Davis Cup tie against Belgium in Sydney in September.

But injuries have again cruelled hopes of picking Nick Kyrgios, who was denied a doubles berth against Sweden in February as his stop-start on-court career continues.

Captain Lleyton Hewitt’s team, ranked No.2 in the world, is chasing a fourth consecutive appearance at the Davis Cup Final 8 in Italy in November.

He’s picked de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin, warrior Jordan Thompson and doubles specialist Matt Ebden for the second-round tie.

“Alex de Minaur obviously loves playing in Australia, and even more so playing on Ken Rosewall Arena. He feels like that’s his home court out there,” Hewitt said.

“He’s played some big matches on this court in the past, in the Sydney International, the Davis Cup and the United Cup as well. He’s going to be really looking forward to getting back out there.

“Alex is a top-10 player and has had a fantastic season, putting himself in contention in all the big tournaments.

“Alexei Popyrin has come off a really good run again at the Canadian Open in Toronto, especially going in there as defending champion. Hopefully, he’ll get some confidence during the US swing. He’s going to be a big player for us in the Davis Cup tie.

“Jordan Thompson has had a few injuries this year, but he’s been very solid every time he’s come on court. He had a good run at Wimbledon, in singles and doubles and obviously him playing with Matty Ebden in the doubles, they’ve played some big Davis Cup matches for us in the past. It’s good to have the four guys available for us.”

It will be de Minaur’s 13th Davis Cup tie having surged back into the world’s top 10 after taking his 10th career singles title in Washington last month.

Popyrin has also hit a career-high ranking of No.19 , becoming the seventh Australian man behind Pat Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis, Nick Kyrgios, Bernard Tomic and De Minaur to get into the world’s top 20.

Australia leads Belgium 4-3 in the head-to-head series, including a 3-0 win in Hamburg during the group stage in 2022.

“We’ve played some big Davis Cup ties against Belgium. They play really well, they play with a lot of pride out there every time they’re playing for their country, so we’re certainly not taking anything for granted,” Hewitt said.

“We’ve had a pretty good run the last three or four years in the Davis Cup. We feel like we’ve got some unfinished business, and this is another stepping stone and another chance for us to put our self in contention.

“We’ll be doing absolutely everything we can to get the result that we feel like we deserve and it’s really nice to be playing on home soil.”