Hewitt Comes Full Circle In Davis Cup

As a five year old, Lleyton Hewitt fell in love with tennis watching countryman Pat Cash’s heroic 1986 Davis Cup final performance against Sweden on the grass of Kooyong. 30 years on, the former World No. 1 will make his debut at the helm of the Australian Davis Cup team on the same court.

“There’s a lot of preparation going into a Davis Cup tie, especially at home,” noted Hewitt, who penciled his own name into the team’s four-player lineup after Nick Kyrgios was unable to play due to illness. “I’ve tried to enjoy the process as much as possible. Now it’s just about putting the best players out there and trying to get the three match wins.

“It won’t be easy but we believe we have a really good shot.”

Hewitt, who announced his retirement as a player at the 2016 Australian Open, is not planning on taking to the court over the weekend. Instead, he has named big-serving Sam Groth as Kyrgios’ replacement.

“He can back up singles or doubles, which is great,” said Hewitt of Groth, who is slated to face John Isner on Friday and Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan on Saturday (partnering John Peers). “He has so much passion and so much pride. His results on a grass court in Darwin against Kazakhstan last year gave him a lot of confidence. On this surface, he’s a great person to have on your team.”

Australia’s other singles player will be Bernard Tomic. The country’s top player in the Emirates ATP Rankings did not have much time to adjust to the quick playing surface in Kooyong after a successful hard court run last week, but Hewitt believes that the quick turnaround will not pose a problem for the World No. 20.

“Bernard is coming off a final in Acapulco. It’s hard to beat confidence coming in. I am not worried about his limited preparation.”

Business As Usual For Djokovic

Novak Djokovic, recovered from an eye ailment which forced him out of Dubai last week, will assume his usual role of top singles player for Team Serbia. The World No. 1 will face 200^th-ranked Aleksandr Nedovyesov in the opening match of the Serbia-Kazakhstan World Tour first-round tie. Djokovic has not lost a Davis Cup rubber since 2011, when he retired in a singles match against Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro.

Murray At The Ready For Team GB

World No. 2 Andy Murray returns from paternity leave to help his country defend its Davis Cup title against a Japanese squad led by Kei Nishikori. Murray, who has not played since losing the final of the Australian Open against Djokovic, will face No. 87 Taro Daniel  in the first rubber. Daniel Evans is a late substitute in the Great Britain lineup, taking the place of the injured Kyle Edmund against Nishikori in the second singles match on Friday.

Zverev’s Big Chance In Hannover

Sascha Zverev will make his Davis Cup debut for Germany against Tomas Berdych in the second singles rubber on Friday. The 18 year old is ranked No. 58 in the Emirates ATP Rankings to the Czech’s No. 7, but the youngster nearly pulled off the upset in the pair’s latest meeting three weeks ago in Marseille. Berdych prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.