Watch the Davis Cup finals LIVE in Australia on beIN SPORTS | Sign Up for beIN to take advantage of our 7-day FREE TRIAL

Doubles pair Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell celebrated a first Australia win in the 2024 Group Stage with a chest bump, and Ebden insisted that there was “no drama”, despite surviving a two-hour 15-minute tussle of a decider.

The Australian pair nearly wrapped things up in straight sets, when Ebden’s defensive lob set up match point at 7-5 5-4, but France did not let up under pressure. Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Pierre-Hugues Herbert’s net play got them out of trouble and they broke the Australians in the next game and went on to take the set.

Ebden and Purcell could not be denied though, and managed to finally serve out the match and secure the decisive point with a 7-5 5-7 6-3 win.

The day began with Australia taking the lead after Thanasi Kokkinakis delivered a clutch performance against Arthur Fils in the opening singles match, winning 7-6(4) 7-6(3).

It was all the more impressive as Kokkinakis is ranked more than 50 places below Fils, and was only officially added to the Australia team on Monday after Alex de Minaur pulled out through injury. 

“It definitely changed my mindset when I knew it was a possibility at US Open," Kokkinakis said. "I knew [de Minaur] wasn’t 100 per cent and struggling. So my focus kind of changed a little bit. I was like ‘Hang on, I need to be ready here, I need to have a little bit more purpose when I train’. It’s a different sort of focus and a little bit of pressure when you know you could get called upon."

With de Minaur cheering from the sidelines, world No.78 Kokkinakis held fast in the opening set tiebreak against Fils, and then recovered a 4-2 deficit in the second to force another tiebreak and see out the match in straight sets.

Top-ranked Frenchman Ugo Humbert overturned that result though, by playing lights out to beat Alexei Popyrin 6-2 6-3 in a one-sided affair.

It put the fate of this tie in the doubles players’ hands, and Purcell and Ebden came up trumps. “All three tough matches," Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt said. "Thanasi did great. We were really proud of Thanasi and the effort he put in. I thought he was capable of winning that match today and had a lot of confidence in him, but it was a really tough one to get through.

"Alexei got outplayed, Humbert played unbelievable from start to finish, very clean hitting and unbelievable return of serve for the whole match, which isn't easy to do against Alexei's serve. The boys had to come out in live doubles. We had full belief but it's never easy, and not something we take for granted. These guys came up clutch again for us. Extremely proud of the whole team."

France captain Paul-Henri Mathieu commended his players and said it came down to "a couple of points".

"It's a Davis Cup tie, we know it can be really close. It was a couple of points going either way. The players gave their best and fought until the end.

"It's tough, we knew this before coming here that we lost twice in a row against Australia. We really, really wanted to win, but that's the way it is. We will beat them one day, but not this year - maybe in the final if we have the chance to qualify. That's sport."