Shelton, the world No. 21, had earlier come out on the wrong side of 30-point tiebreak against world No. 78 Thanasi Kokkinakis, falling to a 1-6, 6-4, 6-7 (14) defeat. Taylor Fritz, America’s top-ranked singles player and this year’s U.S. Open finalist, beat Alex De Minaur 6-3, 6-4 to force the deciding rubber.

Recap, stats, and highlights from Australia's 2-1 victory over the United States in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup.

Ahead of the decisive rubber, USA captain Bob Bryan suddenly swapped out two champion doubles players for singles players Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul. And the decision backfired, as they were beaten by doubles specialists Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson.