Lleyton Hewitt is on the verge of breaking one of the proudest records in Australian tennis as his country prepare to face Morocco in their Davis Cup World Group playoff.
The U.S. Open runner-up has already won 24 Davis Cup singles matches and needs one more to eclipse Adrian Quist's Australian record established in the 1930s and 40s.
Hewitt equalled Quist's mark during the first-round defeat by Sweden in February and seems certain to go past it in the tie with Morocco, which starts in Perth on Friday.
The 23-year-old has climbed to number three in the world after reaching the U.S. Open final and his chances of breaking Quist's record have been boosted by the withdrawal of Morocco's two best players, Hicham Arazi and Younes El Aynaoui.
Hewitt's likely opponent in Friday's opening singles is Mehdi Tahiri, who is ranked 517th in the world and has only ever won one Davis Cup match.
"I'm playing extremely well," a confident Hewitt told reporters. "Pretty much since the U.S. Open last year, I haven't put too many feet wrong.
"Right through this whole period it's taken a hell of a player to beat me week in, week out, whether it's been smaller tournaments or the grand slams."
Hewitt said his two remaining goals this year were to ensure Australia beat Morocco to remain in the World Group and to finish the year ranked second in the world.
He is now behind runaway leader Roger Federer but is hopeful of sneaking past Andy Roddick into second place.
"I'm back at number three in the world and I've got a chance to try and finish two, so it's been a pretty good year," Hewitt said.
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