Lleyton Hewitt: 'It will be exciting to play Davis Cup in Adelaide'
The Memorial Drive Tennis Club in Adelaide will host the Davis Cup Qualifiers tie between Australia and Bosnia and Herzegovina between February 1-2, with the home team seeking the place at Davis Cup finals in November. After a lot of turmoil and harsh words between Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt (Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios were involved as well) during the previous week, the Aussies will try to leave that behind them and focus on the upcoming clash where they are the favorites. The Adelaide native, Hewitt won the maiden ATP title in his hometown 21 years ago and he was in the Davis Cup squad in 2004 when Australia defeated Sweden 4-1 in Adelaide in the opening round.
As was expected, Lleyton ruled out the mentioned trio, with Tomic saying he will not play in Davis Cup while Lleyton is in charge. Kokkinakis wasn't happy when he didn't receive the Australian Open main draw wild card, qualifying but injuring his shoulder again to suffer another setback. Kyrgios lost in the opening round in Melbourne and despite being ready to accept the call from Hewitt and compete at least in doubles with John Peers, the captain didn't invite him, forging his team around Alex de Minaur.
A teenager claimed his first ATP title in Sydney two weeks ago and he reached the third round of the Australian Open where Nadal beat him in straight sets. John Millman, Jordan Thompson, Alex Bolt, John Peers and another youngster Alexei Popyrin are on Hewitt's list as well, forming a strong squad that should pass Bosnia test and earn the place among 18 teams that will fight for the title in Madrid at the end of November. Bolt and Popyrin have reached the third round at the Australian Open and Lleyton will have to decide who will compete alongside de Minaur in the singles in the opening day. Under the new rules, Davis Cup Qualifiers will last just two days instead of three, with the best-of-three matches and three rubbers set to be played on Saturday, doubles followed by two singles.
“De Minaur has had an incredible start to the year winning his maiden ATP title in Sydney and making the third round of the Aussie Open,” Hewitt said. “Popyrin showed us he can match it with the top players and it was pleasing to see him do so well in only his second appearance at a Grand Slam. John Millman and Jordan Thompson will bring experience to the team as will John Peers who is contesting his ninth Grand Slam men’s doubles quarterfinal tomorrow. It’s great to also bring Alex Bolt along to Adelaide after his impressive run last week. Our focus will now shift towards preparing for the tie and as a team we’re excited to bring Davis Cup tennis back to Adelaide for the first time in 15 years.”
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2FK9vAQ
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