Manchester, France, 14 September 2023 | Leigh Rogers

Australia has kept its Davis Cup hopes alive with a spirited 2-1 win against France.

Alex de Minaur scored a crucial singles victory during the round-robin tie in Manchester, with Matt Ebden and Max Purcell then sealing Australia’s triumph in a high-pressure doubles rubber.

Ebden and Purcell combined brilliantly to outclass Edouard Roger-Vasselin, a 39-year-old ranked No.11, and former world No.1 Nicolas Mahut, a 41-year-old currently ranked No.32.

The Wimbledon 2022 champions edged out the experienced French duo 7-5 6-3 to clinch the must-win tie for Australia.

There was only a single break across a high-quality opening set, with world No.8 Ebden and world No.45 Purcell striking in the 12th game to take a one-set lead against the Wimbledon 2019 finalists.

This provided a major momentum shift, with the Aussie pair then racing to a 4-1 advantage in the second set.

From there, they closed out victory in one hour and 33 minutes.

This improves Ebden and Purcell’s Davis Cup record as a team to four wins from five matches.

Three aces in a row from @MaxPurcell98 wins it for Australia 🎯 #DavisCup | @TennisAustralia pic.twitter.com/FtrHocDj04

— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 14, 2023

Earlier in the day, Adrian Mannarino provided France with an early lead after posting a 7-6(4) 6-4 win against Purcell in the opening singles rubber.

De Minaur then levelled the tie with a steely 7-6(2) 6-3 victory against France’s Ugo Humbert.

“I’ve normally delivered when I’ve put on the green and gold, so I’m happy I was able to reset from yesterday and deliver a must-win match,” De Minaur said.

“It was a super hard match against an opponent who beat me recently.”

This result keeps Australia in contention to progress to the elimination stage of the 2023 Davis Cup Finals in Spain in November, which is reserved for the top-two performing teams from Group B this week.

“Our backs were against the wall, but we dug deep and we’re hanging in there,” Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt said.

Australia faces Switzerland in its final round-robin tie on Saturday (from 10pm AEST).

Aussies in action – Davis Cup

Australia d France 2-1
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) d Max Purcell (AUS) 7-6(4) 6-4
Alex de Minaur (AUS) d Ugo Humbert (FRA) 7-6(2) 6-3
Matt Ebden/Max Purcell (AUS) d Edouard Roger-Vasselin/Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 7-5 6-3

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