Powerful Aussie line-up for Davis Cup fray in Sydney
Thompson has just got back into action after an injury-ravaged year but Hewitt has had no hesitation plunging the ever reliable 31-year-old fighter into the team which must win the two-day tie at the Ken Rosewall Arena on September 13-14 if they're to qualify among the eight teams for the finals in Bologna in November.
Alex de Minaur will, as ever, lead the lineup alongside Alexei Popyrin, with Hewitt potentially having the luxury for the first time of being able to field two top-20 players in the four singles ties.
Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! 🐨Lleyton Hewitt chooses his Davis Cup team that will take on Belgium in Sydney! 👀 pic.twitter.com/33jRiAadJe
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) August 14, 2025
He'll also have Thompson, ranked 50 in the world, as a singles back-up while Olympic champion Matt Ebden has also been selected to join him in a formidable doubles partnership. The pair have been gaining useful practice, playing alongside each other at this week's Cincinnati Open.
With only four players listed so far, Hewitt could also yet include another name to his team list should there be any injury concerns over the busy and demanding US Open spell.
In contrast to the Australians being able to field three top-50 singles players, the Belgians have only one top-100 player, world No.54 Zizou Bergs, in their squad.
🇧🇪🇧🇪🇧🇪Belgium announces their Davis Cup team that will travel to Sydney to take on Australia! pic.twitter.com/TaVq280gBO
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) August 14, 2025
Raphael Collignon (No.107) and Alexander Blockx (119) will be battling for the other singles berth, while Joran Vliegen and Sander Gille are both top-100 doubles players.
Thompson made his return to action last week in Cincinnati, losing in the first round, after his heroics at Wimbledon in which he reached the fourth round despite struggling badly with a back injury, the latest in a catalogue of woes he's suffered all year.
The seven winning nations in the September qualifiers will join defending champions Italy at the Bologna in 'final 8 week' between 18-23 November.
Among the team nominations, de Minaur has been joined by several other top-10 stars, headed by Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, Americans Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton, and Denmark's Holger Rune.
Alcaraz and Rune will face off in a blockbuster Spain-Denmark clash in Marbella, while the Americans have a hugely powerful squad, also bolstered by Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe, to take on the Czech Republic, who are led by Miami champion Jakub Mensik.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Roosters put NRL on notice by stunning Bulldogs
The Sydney Roosters have put the NRL on notice as enforcer Naufahu Whyte inspired a stunning 32-12 win over Canterbury that looms as the most important win yet in their top-eight quest. Friday night's victory at Allianz Stadium lifts the Roosters to eighth place amid the battle for the remaining finals spots, though their fate remains in the balance with three games to go. But claiming their biggest scalp of the season in the third-placed Bulldogs, the Roosters proved they'll be capable of some serious damage should they get past the Dolphins, Manly and Wests Tigers and into finals. Easts appear to be finding form at just the right time, winning their past three games by a combined total of 116-28, with winger Daniel Tupou bagging a hat trick in the latest smash-up. Roosters prop Whyte, among the NRL's major improvers this year, led the charge and had two tries - as many as he'd scored across 52 NRL games before Friday. His side up by only two points, Whyte grabbed an Angus Crichton offload after it bounced away from Canterbury's Josh Curran and dived over just before halftime. Whyte punished Bulldogs fullback Connor Tracey for dropping Hugo Savala's bomb, bullocking past four defenders to make it a three-score game just after the break. It continued a brilliant year for Whyte, who has excelled with the unenviable task of replacing Jared Waerea-Hargreaves as the Roosters' forward pack leader. The game was never again close after Whyte's feats, with Tupou scoring a second try from a Sam Walker cross-field kick to put the Roosters on track with 25 minutes left. INTERCEPT 🙌 — NRL (@NRL) August 15, 2025 Tupou's third try in the final minutes made it 182 for his career, moving the left winger into outright fourth in the all-time try-scoring stakes, well clear of Manly legend Steve Menzies (180). The Bulldogs' loss puts a sizeable dent in their top-two hopes. Beating Melbourne at AAMI Park next week now appears non-negotiable if they are to finish higher than third. A top-four finish remains likely, given Cameron Ciraldo's side need only one more win across the final three weeks to confirm a double chance in finals. But the Bulldogs have now lost two of their past three games, both to sides outside the top eight. The Roosters may need to contend without Billy Smith as they fight to shore up their top-eight spot, after his ugly cannonball tackle on Sam Hughes in the first half. The NRL has taken a dim view of similar tackles in recent times, with Coen Hess and Felise Kaufusi receiving multi-week bans in the past month. Hughes later went on report for a high shot on Smith in the second half.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jackson Tchatchoua on the verge of the Premier League?
Jackson Tchatchoua on the verge of the Premier League? The Cameroonian right-back Jackson Tchatchoua, 23, is on the brink of joining Wolverhampton. According to Fabrizio Romano, the deal is sealed: the transfer is valued at €12 million, with a medical and contract signing scheduled in the coming days. Currently at Hellas Verona, Tchatchoua arrived in Serie A in 2023 on loan with an option to buy, which was exercised for €3 million. His impressive performances have caught the eye of clubs such as Nottingham Forest, Milan, and Napoli, but Wolves have surged ahead in the race for his signature. The Cameroonian international, born in Belgium, is now set to experience the Premier League and take a significant step forward in his career.
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Coco Gauff Doesn't ‘Want To Waste Mental Energy' On New U.S. Open Event
Just about everybody who's anybody in tennis is playing the reimagined Mixed Doubles event with the $1 million prize at the U.S. Open next week. Everybody except Coco Gauff, that is. The 2023 U.S. Open singles champ is conspicuously missing from the new 16-team event that runs Aug. 19-20 because she doesn't 'want to waste mental energy' ahead of the singles draw beginning Aug 24. 'For me, it was just because I know the free week of the U.S. Open is already packed for me, for sponsor things, and it was just like a whole other thing,' No. 2 seeded Gauff said this week at the Cincinnati Open, where she has advanced to the quarterfinals Friday night against No. 7 Jasmine Paolini. 'And I'm very competitive; if I were to lose, I would not be happy... So, I didn't want to waste mental energy on that.' Among the men, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe are all playing Mixed Doubles at the U.S. Open. The women include Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys and Venus Williams. Here are the teams: Emma Navarro and Jannik Sinner Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz Amanda Anisimova and Holger Rune Belinda Bencic and Alexander Zverev Jessica Pegula and Tommy Paul Mirra Andreeva and Daniil MedvedevWILD CARDS Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe Olga Danilovic and Novak Djokovic Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton Venus Williams and Reilly Opelka Sara Errani and Andrea VavassoriThe new event is not without controversy, as doubles players feel they are being 'robbed' of the chance to compete in a Grand Slam tournament at the expense of big-name singles players who are more likely to draw fans. Still, the defending U.S. Open Mixed champs – Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori – are competing. 'I'm honoured that they asked me to play,' Gauff said. 'It's going to be great, it's going to be fun and the fans will really enjoy it. At the same time, how they went about it, I didn't think was really great… You guys went rogue and changed the format and didn't tell anybody. You just did it. Did you talk to the players? Did you get their input?' On top of that, an additional complication for players is that the Cincinnati Open finals are on Monday and the U.S. Open Mixed Doubles begins Tuesday. "Then on top of the sponsor stuff, the pre-week, and then knowing that this finished on Monday and potentially having to play on Tuesday… I just knew it wasn't going to work out for me, scheduling-wise," Gauff said. "I plan my sponsor weeks literally like a year out, sometimes a year and a half out. And when this whole thing was coming up, I was already booked and busy.'.
