Australia doubles pair Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson settle Davis Cup semi-final against Croatia to reach final

Doubles pair Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson beat Croatian duo Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic to complete a comeback and fire Australia into Sunday’s Davis Cup final.

They won 6-7 7-5 6-4 in the Friday night doubles decider after Thanasi Kokkinakis conceded defeat to Borna Coric in the first match, only for Alex de Minaur to pull things level with a win over Marin Cilic in the second.

Coric enjoyed a commanding performance to give Croatia a 1-0 advantage, beating Kokkinakis 6-4 6-3.

He helped turn the tie in Croatia’s favour with 19 winners and conceded only nine unforced errors throughout the match.

Despite Kokkinakis’ electric service game – registering nine aces in the first set – he still struggled to find a way past Coric who was even more dominant in the second set which proved decisive.

“This means a lot to me,” Coric said after the match. “I was watching the guys play Davis Cup when I was injured and doing my rehab.

“To play for Croatia is an amazing feeling to me. I was turning to my coach in the first set and saying ‘I don’t know what to do against his serve’, but I started to read it later on, and thankfully I was serving well myself.

“When I was younger I didn’t serve so well and needed to improve it. After my shoulder surgery, I didn’t know whether I would be able to serve again at all, but I did so much work on it that I serve even better now than I used to.”

De Minaur cancelled out Coric’s previous success by overcoming Cilic 6-2 6-2 to set up the doubles decider.

De Minaur took control of the tie in stunning fashion to halt Cilic’s good patch of form that helped him haul Croatia into the semi-finals.

The 34-year-old conceded four double faults in the opening game as he endured a rough start before a relentless de Minaur proved too much for the Croatian No. 1.

“I’m just happy to give our country a chance,” de Minaur said after closing out victory. “Very happy with my performance.

“We play with passion, we play with pride, and I know our doubles guys will leave it all out there. I can’t wait to see them play.”

The win earns Australia their first spot in the Davis Cup final since 2003.

Italy take on Canada in the other semi-final on Saturday for the remaining spot in Sunday’s final.

Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Musetti are among the players involved for Italy while world No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov are in action for Canada.