Alex de Minaur led a great escape for Australia at the Davis Cup Final 8 on Wednesday to send his country into the semi-finals in Malaga.

The 2022 Davis Cup runners-up were in a big hole against the Czech Republic after Tomas Machac beat Jordan Thompson 6-4, 7-5 and Jiri Lehecka built a 6-4, 5-3 lead against De Minaur. But from deuce in his 3-5 service game, the 24-year-old won 10 straight points to turn the match on its head. 

Showing his famed fighting spirit, De Minaur levelled the tie at 1-1 with a 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-5 victory, breaking late in the final set before serving out the match to love.

That set the stage for a decisive doubles rubber that pit Aussies Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell against Czechs Lehecka and Adam Pavlasek. Behind a single break in each set, Ebden/Purcell scored a 6-4, 7-5 win to put Australia through to the semi-finals.

The 28-time Davis Cup champions will next face surprise semi-finalists Finland on Friday. Australia is second only to the United States (32 titles) on the all-time Davis Cup trophy list.

After a successful start to their new player-coach relationship, Holger Rune and Boris Becker will continue working together during the 2024 ATP Tour season.

Rune’s team initially confirmed the partnership on 19 October, and the Dane has posted a 6-4 record since then, reaching the Basel semi-finals and the Rolex Paris Masters quarters before narrowly missing out on the Nitto ATP Finals knockout rounds with a 1-2 mark in Turin.

Forza, vamos , allez, kom jetzt 🦾 https://t.co/4MzE001BWt

— Holger Rune (@holgerrune2003) November 19, 2023

Rune reached a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 4 in August after a strong start to the season but slumped after reaching consecutive major quarter-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Prior to his Basel run in his first tournament after confirming Becker as his coach, Rune had just one win in eight matches.

The Dane pushed Novak Djokovic — who was previously coached by Becker — to three sets in both Paris-Bercy and Turin but was beaten on both occasions by the World No. 1. In his Nitto ATP Finals debut, Rune was one set away from qualifying for the knockout rounds but ultimately fell just short in a three-set loss to home favourite and eventual finalist Jannik Sinner in his final group-stage match.

Immediately after his Turin exit, Rune was already looking forward to the start of his preseason training. He will close the 2023 season at No. 8 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Finland’s best-ever Davis Cup run continued on Tuesday at the Final 8 in Malaga, where Otto Virtanen scored wins in singles and doubles to send his country through to the semi-finals at the expense of defending champion Canada.

The 22-year-old Virtanen defeated Canada’s Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 7-5 to force a decisive doubles rubber, then teamed with Harri Heliovaara to beat Alexis Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 6-3 in front of vocal Finnish support in Spain.

Virtanen’s heroics were required after Milos Raonic staked Canada an early advantage with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Patrick Kaukovalta to open the day’s play. The 32-year-old Raonic opened the match with four straight aces and never looked back.

But Virtanen levelled the tie by breaking once in each set against Diallo, and a late break in each set of the doubles match sealed a famous victory for the Finns.

Through to the semi-finals in Malaga, Finland await the winner of Wednesday’s matchup between Australia and the Czech Republic.

In the early stages of his budding career, Jordan’s Abdullah Shelbayh is already etching his name in history.

The 20-year-old, who is at a career-high No. 187 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, became the first Jordanian to win a main-draw ATP Tour match in April and has since continued his rapid rise. Shelbayh will have another opportunity to perform on a big stage as a wild card at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Shelbayh is doing it all with the pride of Jordan behind him.

“It makes me happy to represent my country and the Arab world,” Shelbayh told ATPTour.com. “There is some pressure but you feel like it’s good pressure to have on your shoulders when you’re representing your country and the region you come from.”

Hailing from Amann, the capital of Jordan, Shelbayh has grown to understand and appreciate the significance of leading the way for his nation.

“When I started playing junior tournaments at an advanced level, playing the junior Grand Slams and even before that, I was like, ‘Okay, people are starting to talk about this,’’ Shelbayh said. “I started realising how big it is and how important it is to represent your country and I try to represent it in the best way possible. At that time, I was 16 when I was like, ‘I’m actually representing more than just myself and my family.’”

Since a young age, Shelbayh has been surrounded by some of the sports superstars. Toni Nadal flew to Jordan when Shelbayh was 13 years old to recruit him to train at the Rafa Nadal Academy, where the #NextGenATP star would move to a year later and graduate from in 2021. 

Shelbayh idolised the 22-time major champion Nadal as a kid and despite being naturally right handed, watching Rafa swayed the Jordanian to play tennis left handed.

“My first memory of watching tennis was Roger [Federer]. I used to play with the right and one-hand backhand as well because of Roger,” Shelbayh said. “I didn’t know who Rafa was. I saw one guy playing Roger because I only knew Roger back then. Then I saw one guy playing with the left hand [Nadal] and later that day I started to play with the left hand.”

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A memorable moment for Shelbayh came in October, when he won his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in Charleston, South Carolina to become the youngest player from an Arab country to win a title at that level. Another Arab player, WTA star Ons Jabeur, has provided more inspiration to Shelbayh.

“What Ons has been doing lately is incredible and it motivates me. Knowing where she comes from and especially on the WTA side, it’s something that’s inspiring for all of the Arab region,” Shelbayh said.

“I’ve practised with her when I was very young. It was incredible. She has always been so nice, very humble. She’s still as great as before even though she’s achieved much more throughout the past two, three years. When I was able to see her [this year] she was telling me that she has been checking my results and she’s happy with what I’ve been doing.”

Shelbayh is looking forward to an opportunity of a lifetime next week at the Next Gen ATP Finals, where he will be one of eight players to compete in the 21-and-under event. He hopes the tournament, which has seen previous champions such as Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas, can also accelerate the growth of tennis in the Middle East.

“I think it’s very exciting to have it in a different place, bringing all the eyes and attention to this part of the world. It will also help this region have a bigger impact in the tennis world and produce more talents hopefully throughout the region,” Shelbayh said. “It plays a big part not just having any tournament, but the Next Gen because it’s for young players so I think the younger generations will start getting into this sport much more and be motivated.

“Me being Jordianan is a big part of it and it gives me the inspiration and motivation to represent my country in such a big event. I wish to see many more young players from that region come out and produce more talent. I think we will be able to do that once there’s more attention on the sport in that region.”