Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt has pulled a major selection surprise, pairing up singles spearheads Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios for the deciding doubles of their ATP Cup quarter-final against Great Britain.
De Minaur will be backing up barely half an hour after losing a three-hour, 22-minute singles thriller to Dan Evans.
Evans' 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (7-2) triumph levelled the tie at one rubber apiece after Kyrgios had put Australia one up with a 6-2 6-2 defeat of Cam Norrie in Thursday's opening match.
Evans defied his world No.42 standing to consign the 18th-ranked de Minaur to his first loss of the year in what was also the Australian No.1's first appearance in Sydney since winning his maiden ATP Tour title last at the venue last January.
The loss leaves de Minaur and Kyrgios needing to beat dual grand slam champion Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury in the doubles for Australia to stay alive in the $22 million event.
John Peers and Chris Guccione, who were undefeated in Australia's three pool matches, had been slated to play the doubles rubber.
Evans was hugely impressive against de Minaur, backing up his impressive wins over David Goffin and Radu Albot in the group stage with a tenacious display.
He repeatedly complained of fatigue during the changeovers and looked spent after the first two sapping sets.
But even after twice relinquishing service breaks in the deciding set and then watching his never-say-die rival fight off four match points, Evans summoned the energy to finally put de Minaur away.
Revelling in the team environment, Kyrgios had given Australia a flying start with his comprehensive win in just 72 minutes.
It was like a party as Kyrgios joked with teammates and skipper Lleyton Hewitt in Australia's courtside box between games.
But the one-time Australian Open quarter-finalist was deadly serious on court, backing up his pulsating three-set win over Greek superstar Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday night with another classy and composed display.
Mixing under-arm serves with 11 booming aces and an array of dinks and slices, tennis's most charismatic performer bamboozled Norrie while electrifying the crowd with his energy and flamboyance.
Australia or Britain will play Rafael Nadal's Davis Cup champions Spain or Belgium in Saturday night's second semi-final.
Russia will face Argentina in Thursday night's second quarter-final.
Spain and Belgium clash on Friday night, after the Novak Djokovic-led Serbia take on Canada in that day's first quarter-final.
"cup" - Google News
January 09, 2020 at 11:49AM
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Australia and Britain level in ATP Cup tie - ESPN
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