Davis Cup 2023 results: Thanasi Kokkinakis beats Dominic Stricker to boost Australia's Davis Cup hopes
Written by I Dig SportsAustralia's Thanasi Kokkinakis beat Switzerland's Dominic Stricker to boost his country's chances of reaching the Final Eight of the Davis Cup.
The Australian side, runners-up in 2022, would have been eliminated if they had lost all three matches on Saturday at the AO Arena in Manchester.
But Kokkinakis won 6-3 7-5 against Stricker in their singles contest.
A 3-0 win for Australia would guarantee qualification, while Great Britain will advance if Switzerland win 2-1.
Alex de Minaur plays for Australia in the second singles match of the day against Marc-Andrea Huesler, who then partners Stricker against Australians Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell in a doubles match.
Leon Smith's Great Britain side beat Australia 2-1 on Wednesday and Switzerland 2-1 on Friday and face France in their final Group B match on Sunday, with a crowd of more than 13,000 expected.
If Britain beat France they will qualify for the Final Eight, which will take place in Malaga, Spain between 21-26 November.
The Great Britain versus France match will be shown live on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website from 13:00 BST on Sunday.
Elsewhere in the Davis Cup on Saturday, Canada - top of Group A with two wins from two - take on Chile in Bologna, Italy, with the South Americans needing victory to maintain their hopes of progressing.
In Group C, Serbia and the Czech Republic are both already guaranteed places in the Final Eight and they meet in Valencia, Spain.
The United States and Finland have both won one and lost one of their Group D matches and the winner of that tie, staged in Split, Croatia, will qualify.