Australia, historically the second best nation in Davis Cup, with 28 titles, only behind the USA with 32, suffered one of their worst humiliations in Davis Cup, as they were defeated in first round of the qualifiers by Ecuador, 3-1. Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo defeated Rinky Hijikata and Jordan Thompson 7-6(5) 6-4 by in the decisive doubles rubber, after Alvaro Guillen Meza defeated Hijikata and Andrés Andrade, ranked 257 in the world, shocked James Duckworth, ranked 86 in the world.
Australia's top player Alex De Minaur, ranked eighth in the world, was absent from the Aussie team that played in clay in Quito, as he is set to play in the Rotterdam Open starting tomorrow. Ecuador, with no player in the top 200, will next face Great Britain in the second round of the qualifiers in September.
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This is labelled as the biggest disappointment from Australia's captain Lleyton Hewitt, who has been at the helm of the team ten years and reached back to back finals in 2022 and 2023 and semifinals in 2024. However, Australia failed to enter the final 6 last year. Despite being the second most decorated nation, Australia has only won one Davis Cup this century, in 2007.