Bernard Tomic launches astonishing broadside at Lleyton Hewitt
Australian tennis star Bernard Tomic slammed Australian Davis Cup Team Captain Lleyton Hewitt after his Australian Open first round exit.
Tomic, 26, lost to 2018 Australian Open runner-up Cilic 6-2 6-4 7-6 (4) on Monday at Melbourne Park.
The 26-year-old made a Davis Cup debut in 2010 but hasn't played in the competition since 2016.
"No one likes him any more," world No 88 Tomic said of Hewitt, per the AAP.
"We have a lot of issues that not a lot of players are happy about. We all know who those players are. Myself, (Thanasi) Kokkinakis, (Nick) Kyrgios."
In a recent tweet, Kyrgios said that Hewitt had "abandoned" him and Kokkinakis.
However, the 23-year-old deleted the tweet and said it was a joke.
Kokkinakis, who beat Ruger Federer at the Miami Masters last year, had to play the Australian Open qualifying after he surprisingly didn't receive a main draw wildcard by Tennis Australia.
"He (Hewitt) used to hate Tennis Australia, it's weird. Now he loves them. What's happened here?," Tomic said.
"I guess he's using them for other things and resources and for his pay cheque.
"All these guys that got wildcards are under a system ... Polmans, Bolty, Jordan Thompson.
"They're all under his Lleyton's wing under the management company. It's all conflict of interest.
"And then he's in Davis Cup and he's doing the wrong thing and everyone's leaving.
"I played Davis Cup for 10 years. I think I played at the youngest age of Australian history when I was 15.
"Lleyton's legacy and his tennis speaks for itself. He's an unbelievable champion. But what he's doing now is wrong.
"I hope he gets moved and we can go back to having a good captain."
Australia is set to take on Bosnia and Herzegovina in Adelaide in February's Davis Cup qualifying round.
Meanwhile, former world No. 17 Tomic hopes to continue his rise at the beginning of this year and soon re-enter the top-50.
The Australian won the Chengdu Open title and returned to the top-100 at the end of 2018 to finish the season on a positive way.
"It's important the next four or five months to get back in the top 50, 40, 30. So that's going to be my goal," Tomic claimed.
"I don't want to play too much because there are better things to do than play tennis but we'll see."
Also read: Extremely motivated Thanasi Kokkinakis aiming to give it all at home slam
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2RRS1ba
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