(Reuters) - Teenager Thanasi Kokkinakis will lead Australia's charge for a place in the last four of the Davis Cup when he takes on Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin in the opening match of the quarter-final in Darwin this weekend.
With Bernard Tomic banned for the tie after an outburst aimed at Tennis Australia officials, the 19-year-old was preferred to big-serving Sam Groth for Friday's singles rubber against the world number 63.
"I just think he's the real deal," captain Wally Masur said of the world number 69 at a news conference in the capital of the Northern Territory.