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Bryan said he switched out Ram and Krajicek in an attempt to stun the Aussies, admitting: “We were hoping to catch the Aussies a little bit by surprise.”

But Hewitt said his team was ready for any line up they faced.

“It didn’t surprise us that much, to be honest … I’d seen them do drills during the week…”

Ebden added: “We were expecting the other pair, but we knew they’ve got incredible players who can play doubles, so we were ready.”

The Shelton-Paul substitution was announced about 15 minutes before the doubles match began. Ebden and John Peers beat Krajicek and Ram in the Summer Games final in August.

The Australians broke once in each set of the doubles. In the second, they stole one of Shelton’s service games on the fourth break opportunity when Ebden’s overhead smash made it 5-4. Thompson then served out the victory, closing it with a service winner before chest-bumping Ebden.

The 21st-ranked Shelton made his Davis Cup debut earlier in singles against 77th-ranked Thanasi Kokkinakis, who emerged from a tight-as-can-be tiebreaker by saving four match points and eventually converting his seventh to win 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (14).

No.4 Taylor Fritz, the U.S. Open runner-up, then pulled the Americans even with a far more straightforward victory over No.9 Alex de Minaur, 6-3, 6-4.

Kokkinakis withstood 21 aces from Shelton, a big-serving left-hander who reached the U.S. Open semi-finals in 2023.

When their match finally ended, on a backhand by Shelton that landed long, Kokkinakis dropped onto his back and pounded his chest. After he rose, he threw a ball into the stands, then walked over to Australia’s sideline, spiked his racket and yelled, before hugging captain Lleyton Hewitt.

“I don’t know if I’ve been that pumped up in my life. I wanted that for my team,” said Kokkinakis, who won the 2022 Australian Open men’s doubles title with Nick Kyrgios. “It could have gone either way, but I kept my nerve.”

One key stat: Shelton finished with 29 unforced errors in his Davis Cup debut, nearly twice as many as the 15 by Kokkinakis.

After a strong hold at love in an opening game that included a 139 mph (224 kph) ace and a trio of service winners, Shelton lost his way completely, losing 12 of his next 16 service points and six games in a row overall. That set ended with Shelton double-faulting when he was cited for a foot fault.

But he broke to open the second set and soon the match was far more competitive.

“Once I got going, I thought I found a really good groove,” Shelton said. “I didn’t exactly like how I finished the match at the end. I thought I left a little bit on the table.”

The victory on an indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martina Carpena in southern Spain means the 28-time Davis Cup champions will face defending champion Italy or Argentina on Sunday (AEDT) for a spot in the final of the annual team competition.