Captain Hewitt Explains Kokkinakis' Absence From Davis Cup Finals Despite Initial Nomination

| by Sebastian Dahlman

Thanasi Kokkinakis was supposed to be part of the Australian Davis Cup Team at the 2023 Davis Cup Finals, but he won't because of an injury.

Thanasi Kokkinakis endured a really heartbreaking career. After breaking out as a teenager, the Australian kept battling injuries for years. This year was the healthiest he's ever been, and it reflected in his results as he managed to record some important wins.

As such, he was expected to be a vital part of the Australian Davis Cup Team, but that won't be happening as he got injured.

He was in action a few weeks ago back home in Australia, playing some ATP Challenger events, but he twisted his ankle at one of them, forcing him to abandon plans of playing in the Davis Cup. Team Captain Lleyton Hewitt confirmed it.

Well, he got injured. He played a tournament in Sydney a few weeks ago and twisted his ankle. He was working through that, and then he had another little setback in training about a week ago.

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But to be honest, we had a lot of options. So I feel very comfortable with Alexei coming in. He's had his career-best year on the ATP Tour this year, and we've got a lot of options in our singles but also in our doubles as well.

Hewitt is right, as the team still looks pretty good on paper. Alex de Minaur, Jordan Thompson, Alexei Popyrin, and even Max Purcell for the singles, as well as Matthew Ebden and Purcell for the doubles, so there is plenty of talent there. They will be a tough out, especially if de Minaur really shows up.

Whoever we end up putting out there on the court I know is going to perform well and leave it all out there for us, and we've got full belief in all the boys.

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