MELBOURNE, Feb 9 (Reuters) – 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.
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.
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.
Alvaro Guillen Meza downed Hijikata in three sets before 257th-ranked Andres Andrade shocked world number 86 James Duckworth, also in three.
Ecuador next face Britain in the second round of qualifiers in September.
With De Minaur leading the charge, Australia reached back-to-back finals in 2022-23 and the semi-finals in 2024.
However, 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.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
