In a stunning rise, teenager Alex de Minaur will make his Davis Cup debut in Australia's first-round tie with Germany in Brisbane against world No.5 Alex Zverev, despite being the team's lowest-ranked singles player.
On paper, world No.139 de Minaur is fifth in the Australian team's singles pecking order.
But team captain Lleyton Hewitt had no hesitation opting for the 18-year-old to open the tie on Friday at Pat Rafter Arena against Zverev.
Australian No.1 Nick Kyrgios will then face Jan-Lennard Struff.
Two-time grand slam champion Hewitt also resisted the urge to play doubles despite practising this week with the team.
He opted for Matthew Ebden to partner specialist John Peers against Germany's Peter Gojowczyk and Tim Puetz on Saturday before Sunday's reverse singles rubbers.
De Minaur - an unheralded teenager languishing outside the top 200 just last month - was given the nod over Matthew Ebden (world No.74), Jordan Thompson (102) and John Millman (108) for the No.2 singles berth.
De Minaur was rewarded for his spirited run to the Brisbane International semi-finals and his first ATP tour final - at the Sydney International.
"The calibre of players he has beaten this year has been pretty impressive," Hewitt said of de Minaur, whose scalps included former world No.3 Milos Raonic.
"He's obviously got a big task to go out and play Alexander but he has got nothing to lose."
De Minaur appeared to be pinching himself at the draw.
"I wasn't expecting any of this. This is a proud moment," he said.
"Obviously, he (Zverev) is the favourite but I am going to come out here and put everything on the line."
The doubles and reverse singles match-ups can be changed up to an hour before they take the court on Saturday and Sunday.
However, the retired Hewitt ruled himself out of a Cup comeback despite a stunning run to the Australian Open doubles quarter-finals with Sam Groth.
After talking up his doubles chances this week, Hewitt said on Thursday he was never seriously considering playing in Brisbane.
"It's not happening. It was just fun being out there testing these boys out - I back these boys in," he said.
Hewitt would not bite when asked about Bernard Tomic's return serve to the former world No.1 after ending his controversial stint on Network Ten's reality TV show, I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here.
Tomic on Wednesday night stood by his claim that Australia could not win the Davis Cup without him and again labelled Tennis Australia as corrupt after quitting the show just three nights in, citing depression.
Hewitt said this week he doubted Tomic would play Davis Cup again but wouldn't comment on Thursday.
"We are here to win a tie - these boys don't have to worry about that," he said.
