Australia’s tennis warriors have suffered Davis Cup despair, falling a set short of completing one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the 125-year-old competition.

A day after overcoming severe cramping to defy Alex de Minaur, unfancied world No.91 Raphael Collignon wore down late stand-in Aleksandar Vukic 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3 in the deciding rubber to lead Belgium to a pulsating 3-2 second-round qualifying triumph in Sydney.

All up, the tennis ironman spent almost five and a half hours on court to break Australian hearts once more, after Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt – once engaged to Belgium’s former world No.1 Kim Clijsters – also featured in crushing 3-2 losses to the small European nation in 2007, 2010 and 2017.

With two bold selection calls from Hewitt, his all-Sydney ou

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