Lleyton Hewitt applauds ‘older brother’ Nick Kyrgios
A BEHIND-the-scenes moment involving Nick Kyrgios and Alex De Minaur had Davis Cup coach Lleyton Hewitt deeply impressed.
Tennis
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tennis. Followed categories will be added to My News.
AUSTRALIA’S Davis Cup coach Lleyton Hewitt revealed an unseen side to Nick Kyrgios after a topsy-turvy day of tennis which saw Australia end day one of the Davis Cup at 1-1 with Germany.
The former World No. 1 praised the polarising 22-year-old for his input in young gun Alex De Minaur’s development as the 18-year-old star prepared for a national debut.
Hewitt said Kyrgios played an “older brother” role to the World No. 139 as he progressed through an outstanding month of tennis to kick off 2018.
“He’s been fantastic with De Minaur,” Hewitt told Channel 7 after the wiry star’s epic five-set loss to Alexandr Zverev on Friday.
“He’s sort of been his older brother. Even when Alex was the orange boy, he’d always get him out to hit with him and help him.
“They’re the things that the public doesn’t see Nick Kyrgios do.”
Hewitt said the controversial Kyrgios — who recently won over a mountain of doubters in his stellar fourth-round effort at the Australian Open — matured in droves ahead of Australia’s Davis Cup campaign.
“He’s had to grow up very quickly in the spotlight,” he said.
“I think he’s really matured over the last six months and I think the Davis Cup has helped that.”
Kyrgios leveled Australia’s World Group first- round match against Germany on Friday with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Jan-Lennard Struff.
Two aces and a winner gave Kyrgios, Australia’s No. 1 player, the win over Struff in 1 hour, 37 minutes.
Earlier, Alexander Zverev clinched the final two points of the match with service winners to give him a 7-5, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Alex de Minaur on hard courts at Pat Rafter Arena.
The 18-year-old de Minaur, ranked 139th, was making his Davis Cup debut. But he nearly caused a huge upset when he took a two-sets-to-one lead, clinching the third set with an ace.
But the fifth-ranked Zverev came back to take the fourth set, then dominated the tiebreaker to clinch the match in just under four hours.
De Minaur had been Australia’s form player of the past month, making the Sydney International final and the Brisbane International semifinals in early January. In both tournaments, he was cheered on by captain Hewitt.
“Credit to him. He’s playing unbelievable tennis for an 18-year-old and if he keeps on improving he’ll be great,” Zverev said of de Minaur. Australia’s Matt Ebden and John Peers are scheduled to play doubles on Saturday against Tim Puetz and Peter Gojowczyk. The reverse singles are scheduled for Sunday.
The winning country advances to the quarterfinals from April 6-8 against either Britain or Spain. The loser will contest September’s World Cup playoffs. Australia, looking to end a 15-year Davis Cup title drought, has reached the World Group semifinals twice in the past three years.
— with AAP
Originally published as Lleyton Hewitt applauds ‘older brother’ Nick Kyrgios