Thanasi Kokkinakis will play singles for Australia in the Davis Cup tie against the USA. -AAP Image
Lleyton Hewitt has sprung a selection surprise, opting for Thanasi Kokkinakis to lead Australia into battle in their Davis Cup quarter-final with the USA in Spain.
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The Australian captain is backing the in-form Kokkinakis over the higher-ranked Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson, who have both enjoyed the best seasons of their careers.
Fresh off winning the NSW Open in Sydney, Kokkinakis is ranked No.77 in the world, more than 50 places below both Popyrin and Thompson.
But with victories in his past three Davis Cup ties, Kokkinakis earned Hewitt's nod to take on world No.21 Ben Shelton in the opening singles rubber in Malaga on Thursday night.
Australia's world No.9 Alex de Minaur will face the fifth-ranked Taylor Fritz in the second singles match, with Thompson and Matt Ebden slated to play Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek in the potentially decisive doubles.
Ebden teamed with John Peers to defeat Ram and Krajicek in the Olympics Games final in Paris in August.
Chasing a first Davis Cup title since 2003, Australia are bidding to make a third consecutive final after losing to Canada and Italy in the past two deciders.
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