Hoping to go one better than 2022 when captain Lleyton Hewitt’s team were beaten in the final by Canada, Aussie No.1 de Minaur came from a set down to win the second singles rubber after Jordan Thompson lost the first in straight sets in the quarter-final clash.

Then doubles stars Matt Ebden and Max Purcell continued their stunning run as a combination to secure a 6-4, 7-5 victory in the deciding match and secure Australia passage to a semi-final showdown with Finland.

Ebden and Purcell have now won six of their seven Davis Cup rubbers together, including three victories in an unbeaten week in Manchester in September that helped propel Australia to the finals in Spain.

Knowing he had to defeat world No.31 Jiri Lehecka to keep Australia’s hopes alive after Thompson’s loss to Jiri Lehecka, de Minaur lost the opening set that took him to the “dark places” he said players could go in matches.

But he went to the well, and his never-give-up reputation, to secure the second set in a tie-break and then a nailbiting third set in the 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 triumph to level the tie before his reliable doubles crew sealed the deal.

“I don’t know,” an exhausted de Minaur said when asked on court how he’d prevailed in the two-and-a-half-hour tussle.

“Ultimately, it’s always going to be tough. You’re always going to be in a very dark places in matches, but maybe I’ve got that reputation of never giving up and I’m competing to the end.”

Earlier, Thompson, who was picked by Hewitt ahead of late-call up Alexei Popyrin to open the tie, was a straight sets loser to 23-year-old Tomas Machac, going down 6-4, 7-5, demanding the recovery from his teammates.

Australia lost last year’s final, continuing a 20-year Davis Cup winning drought.