Australia through to World Group Play-offs

Australia has qualified for the Davis Cup World Group Play-offs in September.

The Aussies took an unbeatable 3-0 lead against Japan in Brisbane today when Lleyton Hewitt and Paul Hanley took a 7-5 6-4 6-0 doubles victory over Takao Suzuki and Go Soeda.

“Handles and I have played some good Davis Cup matches before in the World Group and it’s great to be back playing together again,” Hewitt said after the match.

With the draw for the World Group Play-offs set to happen early next week, Hewitt said the challenge will only get more difficult from here.

“At the start of the year reaching the World Group was what it was all about and every tie gets tougher and tougher as the year goes on.

“The next tie is in September after the US open and it gets drawn out of a hat in the next couple of weeks - who we play and if we’re at home or away - so we’ll see what happens,” Hewitt continued.

Australian Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald said it was a great feeling to wrap up the tie and get another shot at the World Group competition.

“Handles played well today but Lleyton really showed his class, gee you don’t return in doubles any better than that,” Fitzgerald said.

“We’ve played against some classy people, they are a great bunch of guys the Japanese team and we appreciate their competitiveness and spirit - that is what Davis Cup is all about,” Fitzgerald continued.

The two reverse singles rubbers will be played at Pat Rafter Arena tomorrow and are scheduled to commence at 1:00 pm with gates opening at noon.

Tickets are available at the gate.

The Australia-Japan tie will be live streamed with commentary on tennis.com.au from 12:30pm (AEST).

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