Australian captain Wally Masur said he was right in picking Thanasi Kokkinakis over Sam Groth in Davis Cup with the Australians now up 2-0 over the Czech Republic.
The 18-year-old Kokkinakis came back from two sets down to upset Lukas Rosol, 4-6,2-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-3. Masur could have picked Groth, or possibly the former No.1 Lleyton Hewitt (who hasn't played since the Australian Open), but he went with Kokkinakis, who has played fairly well this year.
“It looks a great move in hindsight, doesn’t it, but how lucky was he to win?” Masur told the Davis Cup website. “He made his own luck to a degree, though. Let’s say Rosol had made a quarter in one the events he had just played—he doesn’t lose that match, but he blinked. Thanasi was good enough—and I’m not talking tennis good enough, but mentally good enough to take the opportunity.”
Top-ranked Australian Bernard Tomic also won, in straight sets over Jiri Vesely. “I was very focused and it was tough, but I hung in there and I was a little nervous, but it was huge,” Tomic said. “The crowd was not easy as it was loud, but I focused when there were the right points.”