Alex de Minaur and his Davis Cup teammates will face an awkward trip to play Ecuador straight after the Australian Open as they seek to reignite their bid to lift the 'World Cup of men's tennis'.
And if Lleyton Hewitt's men can negotiate that tricky clay-court assignment, there's a prospect of a mouth-watering second-round 'tennis Ashes' tie in Australia in September should Great Britain win in Norway in their first-round clash.
The 2026 first-round qualifier looks a straightforward assignment for the Aussies on paper, with the hosts boasting top-tenner de Minaur and five other men in the top-100, while Ecuador can call on only two players in the top 300.
Yet the South Americans have home court advantage, and will likely choose to play at altitude on the clay courts of Quito.
In their last tie in September, their top man, rising 22-year-old world No.190 Alvaro Guillen Meza, and world No.281 Andres Andrade defeated a Bosnian team featuring world No.61 Damir Dzumhur 3-2, so Hewitt won't be taking the tie lightly.
The trip comes a week after the season's first grand slam finishes in Melbourne, with Hewitt able to choose from a strong contingent of top-100 players whose ranks were swelled this weekend when stalwart James Duckworth won his 17th career Challenger title in Sydney to move up to a provisional No.87 in the rankings.
Australia would then host either a British side headed by world No.10 Jack Draper and world No.27 Cam Norrie, or a Norway outfit spearheaded by world No.12 Casper Ruud, at a venue yet to be decided.
Hewitt's six top-100 singles players to choose from are de Minaur (No.7), Alexei Popyrin (54), Adam Walton (78), Aleksandar Vukic (82), Duckworth (87) and Trstan Schoolkate (100), with the ever reliable Jordan Thompson (108) always a possibility to be included because of his doubles prowess.
Hewitt's team, beaten finalists in Malaga in 2023 and 2024, had a disappointing 2025 tournament, getting knocked out 3-2 in the second round of qualifying by Belgium after nearly pulling off a remarkable comeback in Sydney.
But the 28-times champions will be hoping for much better in 2026, as they seek to negotiate their two qualifiers and book a place again in 'Final 8' week in Bologna.
There'll be seven second-round qualifying matches, with the winners joining hosts Italy in the Bologna showpiece.
2026 Davis Cup first-round qualifying ties (brackets indicate seeding)
Spain (1) - bye
Chile v Serbia (14)
Germany (2) v Peru
Croatia (13) v Denmark
Ecuador v Australia (3)
Norway v Great Britain (12)
Bulgaria v Belgium (4)
Japan v Austria (11)
India v Netherlands (5)
South Korea v Argentina (10)
Hungary v USA (6)
Czechia (9) v Sweden
France v Slovakia
Canada v Brazil
