Nick Kyrgios’s heroics in the doubles at the Australian Open has not been enough to earn him selection for Australia’s Davis Cup clash with Hungary. Team captain Lleyton Hewitt opted for debutant Luke Saville, Thanasi Kokkinakis, World No 12 doubles specialist John Peers, Australian No 1 Alex de Minaur and world No 65 Alexei Popyrin for the March 4-5 tie in Sydney.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios clinched the men’s doubles title at the Australian Open last week to earn their first grand slam title, but Hewitt is confident his team has enough firepower to match the Hungarians, who will be led by world No 39 Marton Fucsovics, reports The Guardian.
“Alex has had most of his recent success in Sydney, winning the Sydney international a few years back but also some of his best results last month, including quality wins against (Matteo) Berrettini and (Ugo) Humbert,” said Hewitt. “Thanasi had a fantastic Australian summer. He really cemented himself as a top 100 player again, winning his first title at home in Adelaide and beating quality players. And then to go on to win the Australian Open doubles, this is going to give him a lot of confidence heading into this tie."
