Granollers and Martinez landed almost 80 per cent of their first serves during the match to mostly keep the Aussies at bay, but Purcell and Ebden still had the first break point of the third set.
That chance came and went in the second game, only for Purcell to fall in a 0-40 hole at 2-3 – and they relented on the third of those break points when Granollers nailed an overhead winner. The Australians could never catch up from there, with Australia’s support crew becoming increasingly glum on the sidelines.
Jordan Thompson, Cruz Hewitt, Alex de Minaur and Thanasi Kokkinakis cheer on Matt Ebden and Max Purcell.Credit: Getty Images for ITF
Australia have reemerged as a Davis Cup force under Hewitt, whose son Cruz served as “orange boy” in Valencia, losing the past two finals to Canada and Italy and overcoming France and Czech Republic last week despite Alex de Minaur (hip) withdrawing.
Thanasi Kokkinakis was Australia’s hero in those ties with singles wins in the No.2 slot over Frenchman Arthur Fils and Czech up-and-comer Jakub Mensik after replacing team spearhead de Minaur in the squad.
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Hewitt’s men are aiming to end Australia’s 21-year Davis Cup title drought, which extends to when Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis, Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs combined to down Spain in the 2003 final.
Popyrin had a nervous start to the week filling de Minaur’s void as the No.1 singles player, suffering a straight-sets loss to French star Ugo Humbert, but he was a different player against Martinez.
Martinez troubled Popyrin at times despite not boasting the same firepower, yet the Australian, who won his maiden Masters 1000 title in Montreal last month, always did just enough.
Most critically, Popyrin staved off three break points – the only ones he faced all match – at 0-1 in the second set before ripping a series of ferocious forehands past Martinez in the seventh game to break the Spaniard’s serve and as good as seal his victory.
“It was quite disappointing for me to kind of let the team down on the first day, but I managed to bounce back today and put one point on the board for the team,” Popyrin said.
“I think just the nerves from the first match got the better of me a little bit. Honestly, it’s a different feeling playing Davis Cup, playing for your country … but I managed that really well today, and I’m super proud of that.”
Jordan Thompson served for the match but lost to Pablo Carreno Busta.Credit: Getty Images for ITF
Thompson replaced Kokkinakis as Australia’s No.2 singles player, and looked primed to beat Carreno Busta for the first time and give his country the lead when he served for the match at 5-3 in the final set.
However, Carreno Busta staged a brilliant comeback, with the contest turning on consecutive epic rallies in that Thompson service game – both of which the Spaniard won, including a bold inside-out backhand winner that landed deep in the corner.
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Thompson’s forehand let him down when he needed it most, as Carreno Busta broke back and then took over from the baseline, just like in the second set, to post a seesawing three-set triumph.
Spain’s former world No.10 has been back playing regularly since only last month after an extended battle with elbow tendonitis that threatened his career.
“Up 5-2, [he was] 15-30, [then I] serve for the match, and lose the match, and probably won more points than I lost,” Thompson said.
“It’s incredibly frustrating, especially when you’re doing it for Australia, but you have to give credit to him. He definitely lifted after that first set. He started serving better, he went into lockdown mode … and he turned it into a real battle, but I feel like I should have put that one away.”
