Australia crashed out of the Davis Cup after a heart-breaking 3-2 loss to Belgium at Ken Rosewall Arena.
Aleksandar Vukic was tasked with winning the fifth and deciding match of the tie and came agonisingly close before losing 7-6(5), 2-6, 3-6 to Belgian hero Raphael Collignon.
After losing the first two singles matches on Saturday afternoon, the Lleyton Hewitt-captained Australia needed to win all three Sunday rubbers to qualify for the Final 8 in Italy in November.
The Aussies nearly pulled off the greatest comeback in their Davis Cup history when Jordan Thompson and debutant Rinky Hijikata won the doubles, before de Minaur dispatched Zizou Bergs in two sets in the singles.
That left the tie level at 2-2, with Vukic to play Collignon for a spot in November’s quarter-finals.
Vukic held off two set-points in front of a raucous home crowd to win a first set tiebreak.
The world number 95 was broken early in the second though, and couldn’t fight back as Collignon held his nerve to force a third and deciding set.
The Sydneysider was once again broken early, and couldn’t figure out a way to close the gap on Collignon, who converted his one and only match point with a clever drop shot.
A devastated Vukic buried his face in a towel as the Belgian underdogs celebrated on the other side of the net.
“Credit to him, he played a great match,” Vukic said. “I’m a bit lost for words in terms of leaving it out there and giving it my best, but I wasn’t good enough tonight.
“It was a pleasure to play in Sydney, a place I train every day, but it’s tough.
“I’ll take the positives with me, but mixed feelings for the team and the country right now.”
Vukic was a late replacement in the reverse singles as Hewitt made several changes for the must-win Sunday rubbers.
In two big calls, Thompson replaced John Peers alongside Hijikata for the doubles, with Vukic stepping in for Thompson in the final singles rubber.
Hewitt didn’t back away from the bold personnel changes.
“We had to try and win the doubles, if we didn’t win the doubles, then we were out,” he said. “So, pretty much that was the starting point to give Alex a chance in the fourth rubber.
“In this format, it’s hard to back up and play another singles. To come out later in the day to play someone who hasn’t played a match that day was always going to be tough if I asked Thommo to do that.
“Vuk’s been hitting the ball all week, and the conditions are tough out there. I thought Vuk did really well for most of the match.”
Australia’s hopes of mounting an unlikely comeback looked all but over when Thompson and Hijikata lost the opening set of their doubles match and found themselves down 0-40 on Hijikata’s serve at 3-3 in the second.
But after showing the kind of grit Hewitt himself made his trademark, Hijikata dug deep and eventually won a seesawing marathon three-setter to send the tie to the reverse singles.
“I grew up watching his (Hewitt’s) Davis Cup ties and how much energy he brought to the court,” Hijikata said.
“I didn’t want to let the boys down.”
That left all the pressure on de Minaur to level the tie against Zizou Bergs, with the world number eight looking to bounce back from his shock three-set loss to Collignon on Saturday.
He powered to the first set 6-2, and won a back-and-forth battle for the second, breaking Bergs for a fourth time to take the second set 7-5 and claim an emotional win.
“I felt so disappointed yesterday, but I’m so happy today,” an emotional de Minaur said. “It’s something about representing your country.
“You can have your toughest losses, but at the same time, you can have your biggest wins.”
Collignon was Belgium’s hero.
The world number 91 scored the upset of the weekend when he battled through debilitating cramps to beat de Minaur in three sets on Saturday.
In scenes described by commentator Todd Woodbridge as “barbaric”, it looked as though Collignon would be forced to retire, and even the 23-year-old didn’t know how he managed the shock victory.
He then battled back from a set down against Vukic to send Belgium into the Final 8.
“It’s a dream. It was tough to recover from yesterday,” Collignon said. “I lost the first set, it was tough mentally, but I stayed tough.
“I proved a lot. I’m happy, and so proud of the team. We had all the stadium against us, but I know a lot of Belgian people are watching, and we’ll see you in Bologna.”
The dramatic loss rounds out a rough week for Hewitt, who was slapped with a $30,000 fine and a two-week ban for being found guilty of “offensive conduct” for shoving a 60-year-old anti-doping volunteer after Australia’s Davis Cup defeat to Italy last year.
The punishment was handed out on Thursday, with the ban coming into effect on September 24.