Lleyton Hewitt proud of 'banged-up' Australia in Davis Cup loss to Spain

09/15/2024 06:48 PM

• Team coach again criticises 'ridiculous' tournament format
• Australia lose final rubber to Spain but still qualify for finals

Lleyton Hewitt says he is proud of his "banged-up" but brave Australia team for battling through a "ridiculous" schedule to reach another Davis Cup finals week. Captain Hewitt, long an outspoken critic of the revamped tournament, launched another attack on the format in Valencia on Sunday after his side ended their otherwise successful qualifying campaign with a 2-1 defeat to hosts Spain.

The result was largely academic with both teams having already booked their date for the eight-team finals in Malaga in November but Hewitt took time to laud his ailing players for racing from the US Open 6000km away to compete for their country so soon afterwards.