The Davis Cup finals at the Malaga are underway, as the top 8 teams fight it out to make it to the best of 4. Things were supposed to go in a status quo way: teams coming, strong teams winning and moving forward, Team Australia certainly played it well as the dark horse. On top of that, Thanasi Kokkinakis surprised the fans with his form, putting Australia into a lead. Whereas the Team USA faced the consequences of their own Ben Shelton gamble!

It’s common for athletes to predict their opponent based on the practice and the person they see getting ready at the same time as them. The Aussie star, Kokkinakis, also thought the same. He assumed the American star, Tommy Paul, was his opponent and not Ben Shelton, the one he ultimately ended up facing in the first singles match of the quarter-final tie between Australia and USA. After his amazing 3-set thriller win over Shelton with 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (16-14), Kokkinakis opened up about the big surprise he received in the form of Shelton.

The sports journalist, Reem Abulleil, posted Kokkinakis’ words on her official X account. The Aussie star said, “We didn’t think Ben was going to play.” We were under the assumption Tommy was going to play. I hadn’t seen Ben in the last 2 days. I saw Tommy at breakfast, so I thought he was maybe going to play. He warmed up with Taylor earlier. It was a surprise to me.” 

It seems that Team USA wanted to take advantage of Shelton’s surprise. Kokkinakis dominated the first set, winning 6-1 in just 22 minutes. However, Shelton bounced back strongly in the second set, winning 6-4. The match then went to a deciding tiebreaker, which was a rollercoaster of emotions. Both players traded match points, with Kokkinakis eventually converting his seventh match point to win 7-6(14).

This match-up surprised not only the fans sitting and enjoying the battle. But also baffled Alex de Minaur’s girlfriend, Katie Boulter.

Ben Shelton- Thanasi Kokkinakis’ match, with one of the longest tie-break surprises Boulter

It has been a few years since fans saw such an extended tie-break, where neither side is ready to give up. Back in 2019, German pair Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Miles and the Argentine Maximo Gonzalez and Leonardo Mayer played 38 points in a tie-break between them. The former claimed victory with 20-18 over the latter. And Shelton-Kokkinakis’ tie-break is only second to the 2019 in Davis Cup history.

The unyielding battle surprised the Brit star, as she took to her official Instagram handle, and wrote, “What am I watching?”. This record tie-break stands at the 6th position in the history of tie-breaks.  Meanwhile, as Kokkinakis reflected on their epic tiebreak, the 28-year-old found himself lost for words.

“It was tough. We were both serving well. I thought I only got probably tight on one shot, I had a little backhand there on match point where I was just a bit hesitant on,” he continued. “Apart from that I didnt have many chances to do anything, he was serving incredible. One or two points here or there, I kept – I can’t even speak. I’m happy.”

While that match was certainly amazing, Team USA needs to come out stronger in the 2nd and 3rd matches. This means that the World No.4, and the ATP Finals runner, Taylor Fritz, need to do damage control, and thus bring the match to a decider, to move further. Could the 32-time winner’s Team USA bounce back after a failed surprise in Ben Shelton?