Australia have fallen behind 2-1 in their United Cup tie with Spain after an inauspicious debut from emerging star Olivia Gadecki.
A late call-up to replace the injured Zoe Hives, Gadecki lost 6-2 6-2 to world No.193 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in Sydney.
The defeat leaves Jason Kubler needing to beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second men's singles rubber on Tuesday night to force a deciding mixed-doubles encounter.
The dead-rubber tie was locked at one match apiece after Alex de Minaur upset Rafael Nadal on Monday night, before Maddison Inglis lost to Nuria Parrizas Diaz to level proceedings.
Gadecki was making her first appearance in the green and gold since a Billie Jean King Cup doubles debut in November 2021.
The former teenage prodigy was headed for stardom before controversially sitting out the last Australian summer - including the 2022 Australian Open - after declining to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Formerly coached by David Taylor, the esteemed ex-mentor of Samantha Stosur, Alicia Molik, Martina Hingis and Naomi Osaka, Gadecki made a swift rise up the rankings to a career-high No.156 in July last year.
Ash Barty has also taken Gadecki under her wing, but the 20-year-old will need to qualify for this month's Open after dropping back out of the world's top 200.
