Australian tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt is refusing to weigh in on the most recent public feud with Nick Kyrgios.
Accused by Kyrgios of “throwing him under the boss” after he questioned his lack of communication round his withdrawal from the Australian staff on the United Cup, Hewitt resisted the temptation to fireside again.
Instead, the Australian co-captain saved his lips sealed, telling reporters: “I‘m not going to go into it tonight.”
Pressed on whether he would contact Kyrgios in the near future to clear the air, Hewitt again kept a wide berth, saying he didn’t need to divert consideration from Alex de Minaur’s gorgeous upset win over Spain’s Rafa Nadal.
“This is Alex‘s night,” Hewitt said.
It’s no secret that Hewitt and Kyrgios haven’t at all times seen eye to eye, particularly in the case of representing Australia.
When he was a participant, Hewitt at all times put his nation first, and continues to after being appointed captain of the Australian Davis Cup and United Cup groups.
While exercising nice restraint round Kyrgios, Hewitt was extra animated when he was courtside to witness De Minaur breakthrough for his first win over Nadal on Monday evening, yelling encouragement from the primary level to the final
“Obviously Alex has so much respect for Rafa,” Hewitt stated.
“He‘s one of the greatest, if not the greatest, ever to play the game. So it’s a daunting thing for anybody to go out there and play against those players.
“Alex has been fortunate, he‘s done it a few times now. Three years ago he got the same opportunity and it went awfully close that night as well.
“For him to actually have the belief in closing it out, that‘s the confidence that he’s going to take from this to be able to do it against those best players in the world, and Rafa obviously is the defending champion going into Melbourne in a week’s time.
“He (De Minaur) deserves to be confident and really happy with his performance.
‘I think he‘s gonna get a lot of confidence from it moving forward, not just this summer but also throughout the year.”
De Minaur was not requested concerning the public spat between his captain and teammate however made it clear he was all-in every time he will get the possibility to play for his nation.
“It‘s a big win for myself, one that I really needed. I’m gonna cherish and use, take all the confidence from this and be able to hopefully take it to have a good Aussie summer,” he stated.
“It‘s still pretty raw, I would say. Look, I’m very happy. I’m sure over the next coming days I’ll be able to let it really settle. But I also don’t want to dwell on it.
“It‘s an unbelievable win, and it’s going to do great things for myself and my confidence and my form going into the Australian Open.
“But, still the big picture is the Australian Open. I‘ll get back on the training court and work on a couple things that I could have done better. You know, hopefully get to the Australian Open in the best possible form to go out there and have a couple weeks of good tennis there.”
Teams occasion will get Iga’s tick of approval
-Emma Greenwood
Iga Swiatek has praised the worth of the groups format and assured matches obtainable on the United Cup after serving to push Poland nearer to a Group B win in Brisbane.
Swiatek beat Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic in simply over two hours on Pat Rafter Arena on Monday evening to offer Poland a 1-0 lead within the tie, a bonus that was swiftly erased by Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler with the groups degree heading into day two.
While the format of the United Cup – a contest together with 18 groups, every with 4 singles gamers and a combined doubles pair – has been criticized in some quarters for resulting in obscure fixtures that aren’t as eye-catching because the earlier Brisbane International, followers actually received their cash’s price on Monday evening when the world no.1 Pole took on Bencic.
The Swiss is at present ranked 12 on this planet however has been as excessive as no.4 and confirmed that form of type when the pair traded vicious groundstrokes in a high-quality encounter.
As a season-starting occasion, the United Cup format does assure gamers no less than two singles matches, with Group winners after which metropolis finalists gaining extra time on courtroom in pursuit of the inaugural trophy.
“Well, I’m here, so that’s the answer,” Swiatek stated when requested if the United Cup format, which additionally consists of combined doubles as gamers symbolize their international locations within the staff occasion, was preferable to a knockout event.
“I prefer it for sure. I feel like all these (team) events when they were playing in different systems they’re making, there’s a huge difference for the fans as well, so it’s nice to have that and I just think it’s a little bit more fun.
“It breaks the routine a little bit and that’s why I wanted to try it and for sure, having these two matches guaranteed was for sure an advantage when we’re making decisions.”
The match ticked the field by way of enjoyable, with Pat Rafter Arena packed, virtually to the rafters with Polish followers who frequently chanted the world no.1’s identify.
But it additionally hit the spot as an Australian Open warm-up.
“It’s really valuable because I was wanting to have my engines on and I felt like (playing Bencic) was the kind of match where I really had to be on point in terms of my mind game and also tennis and physically,” she stated.
“So I’m pretty happy that I had a match like that.”
The Pole praised Australia’s former world no.1 Ash Barty final week, saying she hoped to satisfy the Queenslander whereas in Brisbane.
That has not but occurred, with Swiatek prioritising time together with her teammates whereas in Brisbane, with the United Cup format a sure winner with gamers, if not all followers.
She nonetheless hopes to satisfy up with Barty during the Australian summer time although and given her type, she appears like she’ll be in for an prolonged run in Melbourne the place she might be aiming to choose up her fourth grand slam title and first Australian Open.
Group B might be determined by the outcomes of tonight’s singles matches between Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) and Hubert Hurkacz (Poland) and Jil Teichmann (Switzerland) and Magda Linette (Poland), with the opportunity of the tie coming right down to the fifth rubber, the combined doubles – prone to be between Wawrinka and Belinda Bencic towards Hurkacz and Swiatek.
Originally printed as United Cup: Follow all of the news and outcomes from new groups occasion
