Australia will return to the World Group of the Davis Cup next year after claiming a 3-0 win in their play-off against Slovakia in Sydney over the weekend.
While Sunday’s reverse singles ties at Ken Rosewall Arena had to be cancelled due to rain, Australia had already grabbed an unassailable lead against their European opponents.
Men’s top 20 stars Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic both won their singles matches in straight sets on Friday before Sam Groth and John Peers prevailed in the all-important doubles rubber on Saturday.
Kyrgios crushed world No.127 Andrej Martin 6-3 6-2 6-4, while Tomic outclassed 123rd-ranked Jozef Kovalik 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-4.
Groth and Peers combined beautifully together in their first Davis Cup match together, dropping just 18 points in 21 service games on their way to a 6-4 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-2) win over Martin and Igor Zelenay.
Australia will find out on Tuesday if they will be seeded among the top eight teams for the 2017 edition of the tournament ahead of the official draw, which will take place in London later in the week.
Captain Lleyton Hewitt was proud of the emphatic performance from his team but cautioned that all 16 teams in the draw would pose a serious threat.
“I think we’ll be close to getting seeded, I’m just not sure on the four-year cycle how many points are going to be dropping off other countries and whether we get any for winning this in terms of making a difference,” said Hewitt.
“If we’re not seeded and have to play one of the top eight teams, they’re all quality teams who have at least one, two really top players.
“If we can have our two main guys, one pushing closing to top 10, the other 15-20, then it’s a pretty strong team on paper, especially if we get to choose what surface we get to play on as well.”