Australia crashed out of the Davis Cup after a heart-breaking 3-2 loss to Belgium at Ken Rosewall Arena.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
That left the tie level at 2-2, with Vukic to play Collignon for a spot in November\u2019s quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
Vukic held off two set-points in front of a raucous home crowd to win a first set tiebreak.<\/p>\n
The world number 95 was broken early in the second though, and couldn\u2019t fight back as Collignon held his nerve to force a third and deciding set.<\/p>\n
The Sydneysider was once again broken early, and couldn\u2019t figure out a way to close the gap on Collignon, who converted his one and only match point with a clever drop shot.<\/p>\n
A devastated Vukic buried his face in a towel as the Belgian underdogs celebrated on the other side of the net.<\/p>\n
\u201cCredit to him, he played a great match,\u201d Vukic said. \u201cI\u2019m a bit lost for words in terms of leaving it out there and giving it my best, but I wasn\u2019t good enough tonight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a pleasure to play in Sydney, a place I train every day, but it\u2019s tough.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take the positives with me, but mixed feelings for the team and the country right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vukic was a late replacement in the reverse singles as Hewitt made several changes for the must-win Sunday rubbers.<\/p>\n
In two big calls, Thompson replaced John Peers alongside Hijikata for the doubles, with Vukic stepping in for Thompson in the final singles rubber.<\/p>\n
Hewitt didn\u2019t back away from the bold personnel changes. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to try and win the doubles, if we didn\u2019t win the doubles, then we were out,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, pretty much that was the starting point to give Alex a chance in the fourth rubber.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this format, it\u2019s hard to back up and play another singles. To come out later in the day to play someone who hasn\u2019t played a match that day was always going to be tough if I asked Thommo to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cVuk\u2019s been hitting the ball all week, and the conditions are tough out there. I thought Vuk did really well for most of the match.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s 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\u2019s serve at 3-3 in the second.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up watching his (Hewitt\u2019s) Davis Cup ties and how much energy he brought to the court,\u201d Hijikata said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to let the boys down.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt so disappointed yesterday, but I\u2019m so happy today,\u201d an emotional de Minaur said. \u201cIt\u2019s something about representing your country.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can have your toughest losses, but at the same time, you can have your biggest wins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Collignon was Belgium\u2019s hero.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In scenes described by commentator Todd Woodbridge as \u201cbarbaric\u201d, it looked as though Collignon would be forced to retire, and even the 23-year-old didn\u2019t know how he managed the shock victory.<\/p>\n
He then battled back from a set down against Vukic to send Belgium into the Final 8.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a dream. It was tough to recover from yesterday,\u201d Collignon said. \u201cI lost the first set, it was tough mentally, but I stayed tough. <\/p>\n
\u201cI proved a lot. I\u2019m 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\u2019ll see you in Bologna.\u201d <\/p>\n