Craig Tiley says TA supports Hewitt, leaving doors open for Tomic as well
After losing the opening round match at the Australian Open, Bernard Tomic switched his focus towards the Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, questioning his decisions in the last couple of years and saying he doesn't want to play David Cup while Hewitt is in charge. Also, Tomic sent a clear message that Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios are against Hewitt as well and neither of them will compete for Australia until some significant changes in the structure. Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley remained silent until Sunday when he finally expressed his thoughts about the current situation, just five days before the Davis Cup clash against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Adelaide.
Tiley made it very clear that the organization stands behind Lleyton Hewitt and his decisions, including the participation in doubles matches which was one of the main points on Tomic's objection list. At the moment, it is doubtful to see Hewitt and Tomic sitting together and discussing their issues but that's Tiley's ultimate goal, as he leaves the door open for Bernard to compete under the Aussie flag once again at some point in the future. Also, he urged Nick Kyrgios to step in and improve his on-court behavior if he wants to draw the most from the immense talent and abilities.
"From an organization's view, we support Lleyton," Tiley said. "But it's not in our organization's interest for me to say that Bernard's cut out of everything for good because of what he says. Our door is always open to resolving issues and to moving forward. You never say never and never say always. Hopefully Bernie realizes one day that you can progress in this sport, you can have success and there's only one formula that I know that works pretty well - and Lleyton's applied it pretty well - and that's work your butt off. Ultimately, it's Lleyton's decision who he wants on the team.
I can't choose Lleyton's team for him because then he can say to me, 'well then you can't hold me to account on the outcome'. I've been asked questions: What about Lleyton playing as a captain? He doesn't make that decision independently. He consults with the team. So if they feel it's best as a team to put him out there because there's a chance of them winning, that's what they're going to do. And his record speaks for itself. We of course would like to see Nick maximizing his talent, doing what we expect an Australian athlete to get out there and compete for but I can only talk to my experiences with Nick Kyrgios and they've always been good."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2ScsXMe
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