Lleyton Hewitt and Tennis Australia face a brutal reality that has stared them in the face for the past few years after the country’s embarrassing Davis Cup defeat to Ecuador.

Playing without Alex de Minaur – Australia’s sole man ranked in the top 50 – and Alexei Popyrin, Hewitt’s men suffered the ignominy of losing to a rival without a singles player inside the top 200.

Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt.Credit: Janie Barrett

De Minaur, who typically loves and is devoted to Davis Cup, skipped the first-round qualifying tie in part because of the injuries (predominantly a serious hip setback) he dealt with in the past two years, and the punishing schedule that comes with being a top-10 star who is desperate to go deeper at the grand slams.

“Over the last month, I’ve been in constant communication with Lleyton [and] have decided that with the issues that my body has given me throughout the last year, it was smartest to sit this one out,” de Minaur said at the United Cup in January.

“I’m definitely going to be available for the next one. I’ll be cheering on the boys and [I am] super excited for that.”

The aforementioned reasons were legitimate, with an asterisk. Let’s not beat around the bush: the world No.6 assumed Australia would not need him to beat Ecuador despite it being an away tie and........

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