Tomic ‘can do great things’ for tennis

Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt says the unique personalities and playing styles of Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic can bring a whole new wave of young fans to tennis.

Photo: Kyrgios has played only four Davis Cup ties since making his debut in 2013.

Kyrgios is Australia’s top-ranked player, jumping to a career-high 15th in the world on Monday, but is still a 50/50 prospect to turn out in the world group play-off against Slovakia from Friday.

A hip injury forced Kyrgios to withdraw from his third-round US Open match and Hewitt said he was a 50 per cent chance of being fit in time for the tie in Sydney, but added early signs were “very encouraging”.

Kyrgios made his Davis Cup debut in the doubles as an 18-year-old in 2013 but has only played four ties total, with a 3-4 win-loss record in singles matches.

Kyrgios fired back at Tomic at the time, making fun of him for having the fastest loss in the ATP record books, but Hewitt said the feud was in the past.

The world number 21, who boasts an impressive 16-4 record in Davis Cup singles, and Kyrgios have not played in the same Australian team for the past three years for various reasons, including injury and ill-discipline.