Australia fought back from the brink to defeat the Czech Republic and reach the
Davis Cup semi-finals in Malaga.
Australia, beaten finalists 12 months ago, were staring at the exit door when Tomas Machac beat Jordan Thompson and Jiri Lehecka moved a set and a break up on Alex de Minaur.
But Lehecka was unable to serve out the victory despite coming within two points of it and De Minaur recovered to claim a 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 triumph.
That set up a deciding doubles clash, and Matt Ebden and Max Purcell saw off Lehecka and Adam Pavlasek 6-4 7-5 to book a last-four clash against surprise package Finland on Friday.
Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt said: “It was a hell of a match, really. It was hard to find answers out there for most of the match. Alex gave himself some opportunities to break at times and wasn’t quite able to.
“Lehecka played fantastic. Conditions, court all suited him. It was perfect for his game style. To his credit, he went out there and executed. He was very close to pulling off a win against Alex, but Alex just found a way.
“He came out and saved us and gave us an opportunity for the doubles boys to finish it off.
“That was impressive in itself, to come out after riding the ups and downs of both singles matches, and then to be able to just switch it on like they did and put in that kind of impressive performance was awesome.”
Australia, who lost to Canada in the 2022 final, remain on course for a 29th crown in the premier men’s team competition and a step closer to the United States who are top of the pile with 32 titles.
Italy will take on the Netherlands before Novak Djokovic’s Serbia meet Great Britain in Thursday’s quarter-final double-header.
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