MELBOURNE: Australia slumped to their worst Davis Cup result under long-serving captain Lleyton Hewitt on Sunday, suffering a shock 3-1 defeat away to Ecuador in the first round of qualifiers.
Missing world number one Alex De Minaur, who opted out of the tie in Quito, the 28-times champions were eliminated when Rinky Hijikata and Jordan Thompson lost the decisive doubles rubber 7-6(5) 6-4 to Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo.
Ecuador, who do not have a player ranked inside the top 200, laid the foundation for their unlikely victory by winning both opening singles matches on Saturday on home clay.Alvaro Guillen Meza beat Hijikata in three sets before 257th-ranked Andres Andrade stunned world number 86 James Duckworth, also in three sets.
Ecuador will face Britain in the second round of qualifiers in September.Australia had reached back-to-back Davis Cup finals in 2022 and 2023 and the semi-finals in 2024 with De Minaur leading the team, but the loss in Quito underlined a recent decline after failing to reach the eight-nation Finals in 2025, Hewitt’s 10th year in charge.
India advanced to the second round of qualifiers for the first time since the revamped Davis Cup format was introduced in 2019 after edging the Netherlands 3-2 in Bengaluru.
Dhakshineswar Suresh won both of his singles matches and teamed up with Yuki Bhambri to claim the doubles, sealing the tie by defeating Guy de Ouden 6-4 7-6(4) in the final rubber.“It’s just a different feeling when you’re playing for your country,” Suresh, ranked 470 in the world, told the Davis Cup website.
“You are not playing for yourself, you’re playing for the whole nation.”India will meet South Korea in September after the Koreans beat Argentina 3-2. The United States thrashed Hungary 4-0, Britain also recorded a 4-0 win over Norway, while Canada edged Brazil 3-2.
