Australian Open 2022: Alex de Minaur says he will “definitely” return to Sydney for the Davis Cup in March

Alex de Minaur will return to Sydney in March to represent Australia in its Davis Cup qualifier against Hungary after his career-best Australian Open run.

The 22-year-old will climb nine spots in the rankings to No.33 thanks to making the fourth round, where he lost to Italian star Jannik Sinner on Monday.

That result ensured de Minaur remained Australia’s top men’s player, with James Duckworth, Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson and John Millman also boasting double-digit rankings.

Adelaide International champion Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios are inside the top 120 and causing a stir with their entertaining doubles heroics at Melbourne Park.

De Minaur plans to compete in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from February 7, while the Davis Cup qualifier will be at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena on March 4 and 5.

“I’ve put my hand up for Davis Cup, to come back in March, (so) if I’m in the team, I’ll definitely be back here,” he said.

“The tough thing with Australia is it’s so far away.

“We do a lot of hours on the plane already, so if there is any way of minimising that, then there is a good chance we will take that option.”

Millman and Kyrgios were the only other players in this group to win a round in the men’s singles, while Davis Cup assistant coach Jaymon Crabb said Duckworth was “trying to get his body right”.

Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt’s squad is set to be quite different from the one that competed in the finals in Italy in December.

Duckworth didn’t play after his form surge came too late to make the original squad, before he elected not to join them after Hewitt extended a last-minute invitation.

On rankings, he would be the No.2 singles player despite Popyrin and Millman sharing that role in Italy.

The doubles could also a source of fascination, after typically being John Peers’ domain in recent years.

Peers partnered late inclusion Alex Bolt in the Davis Cup finals and he and Slovakian Filip Polasek made the Australian Open quarter-finals.

All-Australian combinations Kyrgios-Kokkinakis and Max Purcell-Matt Ebden also reached the last eight.

The high-octane Kyrgios and Kokkinakis pairing has created rare doubles headlines, including upsetting world No.1s Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.

Purcell and doubles specialist Luke Saville were part of Australia’s ATP Cup team, with Peers and Polasek eliminating Saville and another Australian, John-Patrick Smith, in round one.