Lleyton Hewitt has full belief in his Davis Cup squad, despite the team missing a number of their biggest stars.
Ahead of the Australian Open, the country’s No.1 Alex de Minaur made the "brutal" decision to sit out of the Davis Cup qualifier against Ecuador on Sunday and Monday (AEDT).
Because of a chronic hip injury that curtailed his 2024 campaign, de Minaur pulled the plug himself for the first time since debuting in the tournament in 2018.
But the 26-year-old's omission wasn’t the only one, with Australian No.2 Alexei Popyrin, No.3 Adam Walton, and Thanasi Kokkinakis also unavailable.
It means Hewitt named James Duckworth, Aleksandar Vukic, Rinky Hijikata, Jordan Thompson, and Jason Kubler for the tie with the captain adamant they can get the job done.
"In Davis Cup matches, rankings get thrown out the window, and it's all about going out there, handling the situation and preparing as well as possible ... I have full belief in my team," he said.
"They've got their backs ... They want to see each other do really well out there, which is important.
"We won't be taking anything lightly."
Australia is a heavy favourite in the best-of-five tie, with Ecuador boasting the lowest ranking among all qualifying teams and debuting 16-year-old Emilio Camacho.
World No. 201 Alvaro Guillen Meza is their highest-ranked player, followed by No. 257 Andrés Andrade.
It's still more than 100 ranking points behind Australia's best player in Quito, No. 86 Duckworth.
The South Americans will have home court advantage, though, meaning it will be played on clay and at a tricky altitude of about 2800m.
Australia's second best player in Ecuador, world No. 91 Vukic is also looking to make a mark on the tournament.
"What I like the most about Davis Cup weeks is just playing for more than yourself," he said.
"We usually just play for ourselves, for points, for money, and this is something bigger.
"Every time I've been part of the team, it's been awesome, and this week is no different."
The two countries are going head-to-head for the first time since 2001, where Australia won 4-1 courtesy of Hewitt's straight sets victory against brothers Giovanni and Nicolas Lapentti.
Should Australia win the tie they will play either Norway or Great Britain in the second round, with the victors progressing to the final eight in Italy in November.
