Lleyton Hewitt has backed his Australian team to come through the Davis Cup 'group of death' despite the absence of their top gun.
Beaten finalists the last two years, Hewitt’s men have been handed a challenging group in Valencia this week with France, hosts Spain and Czech Republic in their quartet. The top two qualify for the November knock-out stage.
They go into battle without their No.1, Alex de Minaur, who reluctantly pulled out on Monday due to the lingering effects of the hip injury he suffered at Wimbledon, and which ultimately crippled his US Open bid at the same last-eight stage.
"Alex has done some incredible stuff in Davis Cup over the last three or four years now," Hewitt said, "but he's been battling since Wimbledon and he's hasn't really been close to 100 per cent. He was desperate to play, but in the end it really wasn't much of a choice."
But Australia’s captain is boosted by some of his other charges’ fine form in New York, with Alexei Popyrin stunning four-time US Open champ Novak Djokovic while Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell won the men’s doubles.
"We're in an awfully tough group," Hewitt said.
"And I've got so much belief in the five guys sitting up here with me that we're capable of doing that, and they know that. They know how much confidence I have in them as individuals.
"They've all had stellar careers this year on a personal note as well some massive highlights. I expect us to go out there and compete hard and play well, and I think we're a good shot.
"We back ourselves against anyone. These guys put in the hard yards, not just this week leading into this tie, but throughout the year. They'll be full of confidence when we start."
Australia begin on Tuesday afternoon local time (midnight AEST) against a French team led by two top-25 players, Ugo Humbert and Arthur Fils. It is the third meeting in as many years with Australia winning 2-1 each time.
They then meet Czech Republic on Thursday (midnight AEST) before facing Carlos Alcaraz’s Spain on Sunday (7pm AEST).
Besides Popyrin, Thompson and Purcell, Hewitt has Thanasi Kokkinakis and Matt Ebden in his team.
Selection, he admitted, will be tough.
"It's a good problem to have. These boys know it's going to be a team effort, as it has been the last couple of years, for us to make a run deep into the competition.
"Everyone's going to have to pull their weight, and we've been able to do that well. The camaraderie is great. We've got a great Australian culture going, not just the guys that are playing, it's all the support staff and the hitting partners and everyone."
Hewitt was part of the last Australian team to win the Davis Cup, in 1999 and 2003, but said the long gap, and successive losing finals, has not added to the pressure.
"Not really," he said.
"You want to put yourself in the position to have a chance of winning it. And for a number of years we were in the wilderness a bit, and didn't have the opportunity to have a chance of trying to hold up the trophy.
"The last couple of years we've put ourselves in that position. We know what it feels like, we're going to be better for the experience.
"That's the plus side. But yeah, we have fallen one match short, and that's why we're here again this year to have another crack."
AUSTRALIA DAVIS CUP FINALS GROUP SCHEDULE:
* Tuesday (midnight AEST) v France
* Thursday (midnight AEST) v Czech Republic
* Sunday (7pm AEST) v Spain
Team: Lleyton Hewitt (non-playing captain), Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson, Max Purcell, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Matt Ebden.
Top two qualify for November knock-out stages.
