Nick Kyrgios denies feud with Lleyton Hewitt, rages over questions on his fitness

Nick Kyrgios is out of the Australian Open after a straight sets thrashing by Milos Raonic, but he perhaps saved his best performance for an explosive press conference afterwards.

Nick Kyrgios has refuted suggestions there is a rift between him and Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt and insists he was "not upset" with being dragged into the saga by Bernard Tomic. 

 

The Australian was named by countryman Tomic as one of a trio that "didn't want to play (Davis Cup) because (Hewitt) has ruined the system", but Kyrgios maintained that he would be willing to play if afforded the opportunity. 

"Yeah. I don't think I'd be picked," he said. 

"There's a lot of good players right now. Obviously (Alex) De Minaur, (John) Millman, they're all playing great. 

"There's a lot of depth, which is pretty good for us."

Kyrgios reacts during his first round loss with Raonic.

Kyrgios, who clearly did not want to address the topic after last night's straight-sets first round loss - his first-ever first round exit at Melbourne Park - to Canadian 16th-seed Milos Raonic, claimed that he "didn't see" Tomic's explosive comments. 

He said there is "not really" a rift between himself and Hewitt and that he didn't "know what to say" to the suggestion made by Tomic that he did not want to play Davis Cup while Hewitt was in charge. 

"Like, I don't have a big deal with anything," the 23-year-old said. 

"I've always wanted to play Davis Cup. I love Davis Cup. If I don't play, I don't play. Like, I'm available. That's all I've got to say. Like what do you want from me?."

Nick Kyrgios has fought hard for Australia's Davis Cup campaigns in the past.

The storm escalated yesterday as Tomic stood by his comments and directed a further broadside at Hewitt. 

Kyrgios declared he thought the furore surrounding the comments was "ridiculous" and “pretty sad”.

When asked whether he supported Hewitt as captain, Kyrgios replied "sure". 

NICK KYRGIOS IN HIS OWN WORDS, ON...

HIS KNEE

"I've had a sore knee now for a while. Did everything I could. Been warming up. Been super professional before I'm even hitting. Warming up all the time. Just an ongoing thing. I don't know why we're talking about it. I literally just said it had nothing to do with my loss. Really pointless to keep asking me questions about it."

WHETHER RAONIC WOULD HAVE BEATEN ANYONE

"No. I think there are players that are much better than I am. I think obviously guys like Roger and stuff can neutralise big servers so easy with the chip return, which I don't have. But, yeah, it would have beaten a lot of players, for sure.I mean, the way I played, I actually didn't play that bad. I actually thought I played okay. I competed well. I probably would have beaten 75% of the draw. But Milos played scary."

ON PLAYING DOUBLES ON WEDNESDAY

"All my focus goes in there. I'm going to come out there, just bluff my way through a doubles match, see how it goes. Obviously playing with one of my best mates again, which is pretty special. I know this means a lot to him, being part of the Australian Open, playing doubles. That's all I'm focusing on. It's going to be a lot of fun."

BERNARD TOMIC'S COMMENTS

"I didn't see them."

WHETHER THERE'S A RIFT WITH LLEYTON HEWITT?

"Not really.

Q. Not really?

NK: Is there an echo in here?  

WHETHER HE WAS UPSET WITH WHAT TOMIC SAID

"I am not upset."

WHETHER HE SUPPORTS HEWITT AS CAPTAIN

"Sure."

FOLLOW DAY 2 LIVE BELOW

Originally published as Nick Kyrgios denies feud with Lleyton Hewitt, rages over questions on his fitness

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