Australia’s Hopman Cup title hopes are in tatters after Matt Ebden succumbed to a calf injury during his 3-6 7-5 6-0 loss to Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz on Sunday night.
Ebden came within a whisker of pulling off a boilover after winning the first set before racing out to a 5-3 lead in the second.
But the 27-year-old tweaked his left calf while serving for the match, with Janowicz winning the next eight games to secure victory in 102 minutes.
Janowicz’s win gave Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie after Casey Dellacqua lost 6-2 6-3 to world No.6 Agnieszka Radwanska earlier in the night.
And Poland were gifted the mixed doubles rubber 6-0 6-0 after Ebden was unable to return to the court.
Ebden, who was only handed a Hopman Cup berth after Nick Kyrgios pulled out with a back injury earlier in the week, will attempt to return for Australia’s tie against France on Wednesday night.
“I just tweaked my calf running forward, I think the 15-all point,” Ebden said.
“In the last few days it’s something I’ve been having worked on.
“Hopefully it’s not serious. I can still move a bit, so it’s a good sign that it’s not too bad.
“But it kind of scared me a bit. I heard a little click in my leg. It makes you panic a little bit. But hopefully it’s fine.
“I’m optimistic (I can play against France).”
World No.238 Ben Mitchell took Ebden’s place in the mixed doubles, which was played in a Pro Set format.
Earlier, Dellacqua produced some rusty shots in key moments, but she at least found herself in good positions during her loss to Radwanska.
“I had some good stuff tonight, and then there was some stuff where I set the point up and didn’t execute the best,” Dellacqua said.
“Hopefully as matches go on, that starts to improve.
“They are things you can improve, and they’re little things you can work on.
“I can go out for the next two days and work on finishing balls or different shots.
“It was an extremely tough match first up, but I gave what I had.
“I haven’t played for a couple of months, so it’s good to find my feet.”
In the day’s other tie, the Czech Republic notched an upset 2-1 win over Canada.