Tennis officials have been branded “barbaric” as Australia slumped to a shock 2-0 deficit in a dramatic start to their second-round Davis Cup qualifying tie against Belgium in Sydney.

Lowly ranked Raphael Collignon overcame severe cramping to upset world No.8 Alex de Minaur 7-5 3-6 6-3 in a three-hour, 12-minute epic before Zizou Bergs beat Jordan Thompson 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in Saturday’s second singles rubber.

The twin defeats leave Australia needing to recover from 2-0 down for only the second time in almost a century to reach the quarter-finals for a fourth straight year.

Two-time Cup-winning great Todd Woodbridge was furious officials didn’t call for a physio to treat Collignon when he was writhing in agony on the court midway through the opening game of the deciding set against de Minau

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