MELBOURNE — Retiring former grand slam champion Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth combined to defeat Kazakhstan in their Davis Cup doubles tie on Saturday and keep Australia's semi-final hopes alive after their young guns flopped in the opening singles.
Australia were 2-0 down after hot-headed tyro Nick Kyrgios and 19-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis wilted on the grass-courts in tropical Darwin on Friday.
But 34-year-old Hewitt and 68th-ranked Groth ensured the quarter-final would head into a third day by grinding out a tense 6-4 7-6(4) 6-2 win over Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
For Hewitt, who has announced he will quit tennis after the next Australian Open in January, it was especially pleasing.