Alex de Minaur failed to prevent Australia from exiting the Davis Cup early, with his nation falling in the qualifiers second round.
Rinky Hijikata impressed for Australia on debut against Belgium, but he was unable to prevent the shock loss.
Australia were the second seeds in the Davis Cup qualifiers, but lost their tie 3-2 to Belgium, ranked in 13th.
It arrived after their 3-1 success over Sweden in round one qualifiers earlier this year, led by captain Lleyton Hewitt.
But they won’t be appearing in the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna in November, where Belgium have just been drawn to face France in the quarterfinals.
Photo by Izhar Khan/MB Media/Getty ImagesAlex de Minaur reacts to Australia’s disappointing Davis Cup exit
It’s a shock exit for Australia, who are the second-most successful Davis Cup side ever, and were runners-up in 2022 and 2023.
And star man De Minaur has now shared his reaction to the defeat to Belgium with a post on his Instagram.
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He wrote: “Always pride and passion shown in this team, disappointed in the result this last weekend but we will be back! Thank you Sydney.”
What are the current rankings ahead of the Davis Cup Final 8 in Bologna?
ATP Tour number eight De Minaur was the highest-ranked player in the tie, in which he won once and lost once.
But he and his Australian teammates will now take a back seat for the upcoming Davis Cup Finals in Bologna.
Two-time defending champions Italy, the top-ranked team, have been drawn to face Austria on home soil.
Spain take on Czechia, who just knocked out the USA, while Argentina take on Germany at the quarter-final stage.
RankNationMovementPointsPlayed1Italy –573.25182Australia –470.75203Germany +1453154Netherlands -1432185USA –419.5166France +2415.5147Canada -1415.25188=Argentina +2412138=Czechia +14121310Spain -3408.7514Current Davis Cup top 10 rankings
De Minaur meanwhile has an immediate chance to recover in another team event, having been called up to the Team World side for the Laver Cup.
He has replaced American Frances Tiafoe for the team tournament, which takes place later this week at the Chase Center in San Francisco.