Australia slumped to their worst Davis Cup result under long-serving captain Lleyton Hewitt, suffering a 3-1 humiliation away to lowly Ecuador in the first round of qualifiers on Sunday.<\/p>\n
With Australia’s number one Alex De Minaur opting out of the tie in Quito, the 28-times champions crashed out when Rinky Hijikata and Jordan Thompson were beaten 7-6(5) 6-4 by Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo in the decisive doubles rubber.<\/p>\n
Lacking a player in the top 200, Ecuador set up their unlikely triumph on home clay by claiming both the opening singles rubbers on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Alvaro Guillen Meza downed Hijikata in three sets before 257th-ranked Andres Andrade shocked world number 86 James Duckworth, also in three.<\/p>\n
Ecuador next face Britain in the second round of qualifiers in September.<\/p>\n
With De Minaur leading the charge, Australia reached back-to-back finals in 2022-23 and the semi-finals in 2024.
\nHowever, the Ecuador shock continues the team’s decline following their failure to reach the eight-nation Finals in 2025, Hewitt’s 10th year in charge.<\/p>\n
India’s Dhakshineswar Suresh won both his singles matches and partnered Yuki Bhambri to victory in the doubles as India beat Netherlands 3-2 in Bengaluru.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old held his nerve under immense pressure in the final rubber against Guy de Ouden to win 6-4 7-6 (4) and guide India to the second round of qualifiers for the first time since the new Davis Cup format began in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a different feeling when you\u2019re playing for your country,\u201d Suresh, who has a world ranking of 470, told the Davis Cup website after the win. \u201cYou are not playing for yourself, you\u2019re playing for the whole nation.”<\/p>\n
India meet South Korea in the next round in September after the Koreans defeated Argentina 3-2. The United States beat Hungary 4-0 while Britain also secured a 4-0 win over Norway and Canada beat Brazil 3-2.<\/p>\n
–Reuters–<\/p>\n
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