Aussies lose to Belgium
Belgium has inflicted more Davis Cup pain on Australia, the Europeans coming from behind to win the World Group Playoff tie 3-2 as Olivier Rochus and Steve Darcis won their reverse singles matches in Cairns on Monday.
Rochus outlasted a valiant Peter Luczak - who replaced the injured Lleyton Hewitt in the first reverse singles clash - defeating the plucky Australian in a 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 6-7 (0-7) 7-6 (7-2) that lasted four hours, 23 minutes over two rain-interrupted days.
With the tie levelled at 2-2, it all came down to Carsten Ball's final reverse singles clash with Steve Darcis, who himself was unfit to play in the initial singles' game last Friday through injury.
Darcis, though, showed he was over the pain, beating Ball in straight sets 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-4 on Monday evening in a match that lasted two hours, 23 minutes.
Despite the loss, Australia's team captain John Fitzgerald feels it is only a matter of time before the Australians rejoin the Davis Cup World Group.
"What can we say? We tried our best. We are disappointed obviously," Fitzgerald said.
"Just because of one loss, you can't say everything is lost. We have got to keep building our team, and continue the Davis Cup fight."
Ball was just shaded in an even first set that went just over an hour, the 23-year-old merely losing the tie-break to his more experienced opponent.
But Ball simply didn't take his chances in the following two sets as a mounting unforced error count caught up with him.
Overall, Ball conceded 45 unforced errors to 27, while his failure to take advantage of five break opportunities across the match, including four in the second set, proved especially costly.
Darcis only created three opportunities to break Ball, but he put them away in the second and third sets and this ultimately proved the difference as Australia once again missed out on qualifying for the lucrative World Group in 2011.
The result was especially disappointing for Australia after they went ahead in the tie on two occasions.
Hewitt started things off well for the hosts on Friday when he beat ATP Tour rookie Ruben Bemelmans - who was himself standing in for Darcis.
Belgium responded through Rochus' victory over Ball on Friday but Australia regained the advantage on Saturday when Hewitt and Paul Hanley beat Rochus and Bemelmans in the doubles.
However, Hewitt sustained a wrist injury during that doubles encounter and was unable to compete against Rochus, leaving Luczak to take his place.
In an epic encounter that was postponed at 4-4 due to Sunday's rain, the opening set proved an arm wrestle, with Luczak saving the only break point against his serve before it was decided by a tie-breaker which Luczak led 3-0 early before Rochus responded to take the lead.
In the second set Luczak had four opportunities to break his opponent's serve but squandered them all while Rochus was able to convert one of his two chances and it was enough to see him to a two-sets-to-love advantage.
Luczak continued to play his shots in the third set but his unforced error count also kept climbing and he failed to convert the only break point of the set before it again went to a tie-break, the difference this time being that Rochus failed to win a single point.
Another pair of break points went