Kokkinakis gets past Shelton for Australia to lead U.S. in Davis Cup

MALAGA, Spain (AP) — Australia reached the Davis Cup semifinals for the third consecutive year, eliminating the United States 2-1 when Matt Ebden and Jordan Thompson beat the surprise, last-minute pairing of Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-4 in the deciding doubles match on Thursday.

The victory on an indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martina Carpena in southern Spain means 28-time Davis Cup champion Australia will face defending champion Italy or Argentina on Saturday for a spot in the final of the annual team competition.

The other semifinal, to be contested Friday, is the Netherlands against Germany. The Dutch got past Rafael Nadal and Spain in the quarterfinals earlier in the week, sending the 22-time Grand Slam champion into retirement.

The Australians were the runners-up the past two years, including in 2023 against Italy, which is led by No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner.

The Americans own a record 32 Davis Cup titles but haven’t been to the semifinals since 2018 and haven’t claimed the title since 2007, their longest drought in the event.

The Shelton-Paul substitution for Paris Olympics silver medalists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram was announced about 15 minutes before the doubles match began. Ebden and John Peers beat Krajicek and Ram in the Summer Games final in August.

The Australians broke once in each set of the doubles. In the second, they stole one of Shelton's service games on the fourth break opportunity when Ebden's overhead smash made it 5-4. Thompson then served out the victory, closing it with a service winner before chest-bumping Ebden.

The 21st-ranked Shelton made his Davis Cup debut earlier Thursday in singles against 77th-ranked Thanasi Kokkinakis, who emerged from a tight-as-can-be tiebreaker by saving four match points and eventually converting his seventh to win 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (14).

No. 4 Taylor Fritz, the U.S. Open runner-up, then pulled the Americans even with a far more straightforward victory over No. 9 Alex de Minaur, 6-3, 6-4.

Kokkinakis withstood 21 aces from Shelton, a big-serving left-hander who reached the U.S. Open semifinals in 2023.

When their match finally ended, on a backhand by Shelton that landed long, Kokkinakis dropped onto his back and pounded his chest. After he rose, he threw a ball into the stands, then walked over to Australia's sideline, spiked his racket and yelled, before hugging captain Lleyton Hewitt.

“I don’t know if I've been that pumped up in my life. I wanted that for my team,” said Kokkinakis, who won the 2022 Australian Open men's doubles title with Nick Kyrgios. “It could have gone either way, but I kept my nerve.”

One key stat: Shelton finished with 29 unforced errors in his Davis Cup debut, nearly twice as many as the 15 by Kokkinakis.

After a strong hold at love in an opening game that included a 139 mph (224 kph) ace and a trio of service winners, Shelton lost his way completely, losing 12 of his next 16 service points and six games in a row overall. That set ended with Shelton double-faulting when he was cited for a foot fault.

But he broke to open the second set and soon the match was far more competitive.

“Once I got going, I thought I found a really good groove," Shelton said. "I didn’t exactly like how I finished the match at the end. I thought I left a little bit on the table.”

Fritz won nine of his 10 service games against de Minaur and dealt just fine with a quick turnaround after reaching the title match at the ATP Finals on Sunday in Turin, Italy, before losing to Sinner.

Fritz flew to Spain the next day, then practiced Tuesday and Wednesday.

“I’m just really happy,” Fritz said, “with how I held it together.”

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis