Alex de Minaur continued his busy season at the Davis Cup, although his Australia side have failed to reach the Final 8.
Australia beat Sweden 3-1 in the first round qualifiers earlier this season, but have now fallen in the second round.
Belgium produced one of the shocks of the tournament, defeating Australia 3-2 in a Davis Cup thriller in Sydney.
Despite having home advantage at Ken Rosewall Arena, Lleyton Hewitt’s side have now suffered a disappointing exit.
Davis Cup veterans USA were also upset in the second round qualifiers, losing their meeting with Czechia by the same scoreline.
Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images for ITFAlex de Minaur messages Australian teammate after Davis Cup debut
ATP number eight De Minaur was the highest-ranked player in the tie, followed by Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in 46th and Australia’s Jordan Thompson in 77th.
But catching the eye of De Minaur was world number 110 Rinky Hijikata, who was making his debut for Australia in Sydney.
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De Minaur led the plaudits, tagging Hijikata on his Instagram story with the words: “What a debut from this guy,” accompanied by three heart eyes emojis.
Photo by Izhar Khan/MB Media/Getty ImagesLleyton Hewitt reacts after Australia exit the Davis Cup
But while De Minaur was delighted by Hijikata, it was a very disappointing result for Australia, particularly given that they played in front of their own fans.
Belgium’s Raphael Collignon shocked De Minaur in their singles tie, with Bergs doing the same against Thompson.
But Thompson recovered alongside Hijikata to beat Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in doubles, with De Minaur beating Bergs to level the tie.
However, Collignon was the hero, with the Belgian overcoming Aleksandar Vukic to send his nation to Bologna in November.
Reacting to the defeat, Australian captain Hewitt said: “I’m proud of the whole team and the effort they put in.
“Yesterday didn’t go our way but they sure held their heads high and had a real crack today and we were nearly able to pull it off. I’m just really proud of the guys and the effort they put in.”