Taylor Fritz defeated Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4 to even the quarterfinal between the United States and Australia, the Davis Cup’s greatest champions, on Thursday. Thanasi Kokkinakis gave Australia the first point when he emerged from a tight-as-can-be tiebreaker by saving four match points and eventually converting his seventh to get past Ben Shelton 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (14). On an indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martina Carpena in southern Spain, the 77th-ranked Kokkinakis withstood 21 aces from Shelton, a big-serving left-hander who is ranked 21st and reached the U.S. Open semifinals in 2023.