Lleyton Hewitt has been dealt the worst defeat of his reign as Australian team captain after the Aussies were shocked in their Davis Cup tie against Ecuador with the call for Alex de Minaur to skip the clash backfiring. Australia’s No.1 ranked star de Minaur often leads Australia in the Davis Cup, but the 26-year-old opted to focus on his singles rankings push after the Australian Open.
Despite his absence, Hewitt’s second-string squad was still expected to get the job done in Ecuador. Although Australia were humbled on the Ecuadorian clay going down 3-1 as the home side celebrated the biggest win in their history.
Australia are the World No.4 in tennis, but had no answers against the World No.37 nation with no player ranked in the top 200 in Ecuador’s team. Hewitt has 13 players to select from ranked higher than the leading Ecuadorian player.
Lleyton Hewitt (pictured far left) couldn’t call on Alex de Minaur in the Davis Cup with Australia humbled in their Davis Cup tie against Ecuador. (Images: Getty Images/@Davis Cup)
De Minaur opted to skip the trip to Ecuador after the Australian Open, which saw him make a run to the quarter-final before a loss to Carlos Alcaraz. The Aussie hasn’t missed a cup tie since 2018, but after struggling through injury in 2025 he wanted to focus on his fitness to start the current season and will chase ranking points in Rotterdam.
Although his absence shouldn’t have derailed Australia with Ricky Hijikata and James Duckworth stepping up for the team in singles on Saturday. Both lost their opening singles matches to leave Australia 2-0 down heading into the doubles.
And in the biggest surprise of the day, Australian pair Hijikata and Jordan Thompson lost the deciding doubles match 7-6 6-4 against Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo. Thompson appeared to be a late change for Jason Kubler in the doubles, despite Kubler recently reaching the men’s doubles at the Australian Open. And Thompson and Hijikata couldn’t keep Australia alive in the tie. Kubler was the only Aussie to come out victorious having won his dead-rubber singles tie. But it didn’t mean much in the tie with Australia going down 3-1.
Tennis world stunned after Davis Cup upset
The last time Australia played Ecuador, Hewitt and Pat Rafter were part of a winning team. Without de Minaur, Australia has struggled to compete with the elite with Australia’s singles depth a concern. And fans were quick to lament Australia’s woes. Ecuardor were the lowest ranked side in the qualifiers, but still managed to trouble Australia on clay.
Australia have won the Davis Cup 28 times, which shows how far the nation has fallen in the tennis standings. One of the thrills of the tie was showing how exciting the advantage of home courts are. Australian players can struggle on clay with the surface the most foreign of the three surfaces. Fans were quick to call out Australia’s defeat, while praise Ecuador for a historic win. They will now take on Great Britain in the next round.