Demon’s injury struggles laid bare by omission

Alex de Minaur’s hip injury has left Australia without a key member of its Davis Cup squad ahead of a mouth-watering clash against the USA.
De Minaur had to withdraw from his Wimbledon quarter final clash against Novak Djokovic but did make a return a month later in the US Open.
He lost in the quarter final of that tournament to Brit Jack Draper.
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De Minaur hasn’t featured in a tournament since and visibly struggled in the match against Draper.
Alex de Minaur is not in the recent Davis Cup squad.  AP
Now the 25-year-old is a notable omission for the knockout Davis Cup tie in November after he missed the quarter finals against Spain.
“He’s going to do everything to get back as quickly as possible,” coach Lleyton Hewitt said last week.
Hewitt’s squad consists of Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden.
The final eight of the tournament will get underway in just under two months with Spain, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Spain, USA, Italy and the Netherlands all in the mix too.
Changes are still permitted for the squads but it appears de Minaur is racing against the clock to prove his fitness.
Australia finished second in Group B of the tournament, having defeated France and Czechia before losing to Spain.
The USA were first in Group C, overcoming Germany, Chile and Slovakia.
Australia has not won the tournament since 2003.