Hewitt celebrates a win during the series against Finland at Martín Carpena.Clive Brunskill (Getty Images for ITF)
This time Los Pacos march sadly from Martín Carpena. The large community of Finns living in one neighborhood of Fuengirola – about 5,000, according to municipal registers – are collecting their flags, their beads and their drums and preparing to retire home after their children have succumbed to the vastness of Australia second largest nation with the most Davis Cup titles (28) after the USA (30). Finland eventually fell, which had nothing to do with Cinderella at all. Bravo for the Nordics, standing tall from start to finish in this final phase. The triumphs of Alexei Popyrin and Alex de Miñaur against Otto Virtanen (7-6(5) and 6-2) and Emil Ruusuvuori (6-4 and 6-3) shed light on the first finalist.
“They were two games of very high quality. “I am very proud of my players,” describes Oceanic captain Lleyton Hewitt on the pitch, who maintains the same gesture as when he was a player and will be in a privileged position again this Sunday. If he were to beat Italy or Serbia, scheduled for second place in the final this Saturday (12 p.m., Movistar+), he would close the still incomplete circle that leaves a competitor as hungry as him, full of courage and fury like a purebred Tennis player, bothers . He won the Davis Cup twice, in 1999 and 2003, and now, twenty years later, he can finish the perfect job: taking over the Salad Bowl captaincy.
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“I want these children to live what I lived. This competition is very important for Australia. We are a country with a long history in this tournament and it is important that our players know that. As a player, I’ve never had a better feeling than representing our country,” says Hewitt, clenching his fists and teeth with the vigor and fiery spirit of someone still on the pitch. He retired seven years ago and since then he has been trying hard to regain the glory that eluded his country for two decades when he was still playing mischief with the bat and defeating Spain on the Melbourne pitch. He was in that finals series at Rod Laver Arena with the Philippoussis, Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge.
He did it a year ago, also in Malaga, also in Carpena and also in a format that he never liked. Because he, romantic by nature, longs for the home qualifications and the journey, the five-set battles. In any case, Andalusia is not at all bad for its team, which was beaten by Canada (2-0) in the last edition and is now experiencing a revival. “Last season we were a bit blind, it was the first time; Now we know the location, the surface and all those things. Last year brings back very good memories, but we came back with the determination to go even further,” explains this Davis man, who has no shortage of CVs: there are two trophies, more series played than any other Australian (43) , more years played (19), more overall wins (59) and also individual wins (42).
“What I liked most were the home and away games, the stands. I have memories of playing with Rafter and Cashy over the last few years [Pat Cash] and all those guys… I even remember when we played Spain in Sant Jordi in 2000; “Rafa Nadal carried the flag in front of more than 20,000 people and everyone booed me and shouted against me the whole time,” sums up the coach, who led his team from the bench – since 2016 – to the round of 16 twice and to the quarter-finals once and another until the semi-finals; In 2021, the group stage setback recorded its worst result. “There is no better feeling in tennis than winning the Davis Cup,” repeats Hewitt, satisfied with his boys’ performance. “It’s probably the most important victory of my career,” confirms Popyrin, who has lived in Marbella for five years and, like his teammates, will try to reach the already distant peak of his captaincy.
DJOKOVIC, MISSED DUE TO ANTI-DOPING BEFORE THE MATCH
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Before the Serbian team faced Great Britain in the quarter-finals on Thursday, they were asked to undergo an anti-doping test by members of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). However, Novak Djokovic and his team refused to do so at the time, knowing that this was not the right time and that it would affect the approach to the tie.
“It’s the first time this has happened to me. There’s no point in doing it beforehand if I’m going to be there after the game,” Nole explained in Serbian during the press conference after his win against the British; “They notified me an hour and a half before the game started, and I have my pre-game routines and don’t have to think about donating blood or urine at that moment.”
The Balkan leader said he felt persecuted by the doctor. “I spoke to him about it because nothing like this has ever happened to me in my 20-year career. He sat in a corner and followed me for hours. It’s outrageous. I have always defended controls, but not before games. There is nothing to hide, but there must be certain boundaries.”
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