Alex de Minaur declared he has to find ways to “hurt” the world’s best players after losing to Italian star Jannik Sinner for a sixth straight time to continue Australia’s 20-year Davis Cup title drought.
For the second straight year, captain Lleyton Hewitt’s Australian team fell heartbreakingly short after being demolished by Italy in the final in Spain.
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After stirring wins over first Czechia and then Finland to make the decider, both Alexei Popyrin and then world No. 12 de Minaur lost their singles clashes, giving the Italians a clean sweep and their first Davis Cup crown since 1976.
Hewitt, who was a member of the Australian team that last captured the Davis Cup in 2003, will have to wait to add the title of winning captain to his Hall of Fame tennis resume.
But he said his players did “everything possible” before coming up short.
“I’m super proud of all the boys, the support staff and the team,” he said.
“We did absolutely everything we possibly could have and we have come agonisingly close yet again.”
After Popyrin, playing just his second Davis Cup singles match since 2019 after being a late inclusion, lost in three sets to Matteo Arnaldi, world No.4 Sinner - who toppled Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals - wiped the floor with de Minaur in a 6-3, 6-0 demolition in Malaga.
It was a sixth consecutive loss to Sinner for the Australian opponent who has never won a match against him.
“I will find ways to get better, to be able to hurt these types of players,” de Minaur, who also lost his singles rubber in the 2022 final defeat by Canada, said in the wake of his defeat.
“Today I just didn’t have enough. I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to give the boys a chance to play the doubles, that’s probably the biggest disappointment.”
Italy went one-up when Arnaldi clung on to beat Popyrin, who made his Davis Cup return against Finland in brilliant style, in three sets 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.
Popyrin started his first service game with a double fault as nerves took hold and lost the first set, increasing the pressure on himself.
He then blasted his way to a 4-0 lead in the second set, which he went on to win.
The final set was more of a tussle and was level at 4-4 before Arnaldi saved a break point on his way to a 5-4 lead.
He then won the next game, breaking Popyrin’s serve for the first time in the set to give his team a 1-0 lead that set up their victory.
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“I felt like I was in control from the second set onwards,” world No. 40 Popyrin said.
“It’s just painful that I couldn’t get us off on the right foot.”
Australia’s doubles pairing of Max Purcell and Matt Ebden, who weren’t needed in the 2-0 semi-final win over Finland, again didn’t get on to the court in the final
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