Aleksandar Vukic brought into Australia’s Davis Cup squad as injuries force Nick Kyrgios to withdraw

An Aussie’s dream month has continued with elevation into the Davis Cup squad, but it has come at a cost with a big-name star ruled out due to injury.

The Davis Cup return of Nick Kyrgios is over before it started opening the door for Aleksandar Vukic to make his debut in this weekend’s tie against Sweden as reward for his breakout Australian Open performance.

Injuries have wreaked havoc on the opening round of Davis Cup ties, coming hot on the heels of the year’s first grand slam, with Novak Djokovic succumbing to the leg injury that forced him to pull out of his semi-final against Alexander Zverev in Melbourne last week and withdrawing from Serbia’s tie.

Kyrgios was set to return to the Davis Cup for the first time since 2019 but is set to be officially ruled out due to the abdominal injury that plagued him in his first round loss at the Australian Open.

Nick Kyrgios won’t play in this weekend’s Davis Cup tie due to injury. Picture: Michael Klein

Thanasi Kokkinakis is battling a shoulder injury and is also in serious doubt for the tie where he was set to play doubles with Kyrgios for Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt.

But the injury carnage has opened the door for Vukic to earn a well-deserved call-up on the back of his third round finish at the Australian Open where he lost a five-set epic in a tie-break to Jake Draper.

“Representing Australia would be such a privilege,” Vukic said after that match, with the fan favourite flying out on Sunday.

“I want to accomplish as much as I can.

“Whether that’s going deep in a slam, representing Davis Cup, going deep in Masters, I want to push whatever I can.”

The 28-year-old went the distance in all three of his singles matches but has pulled up well and is expected to take on a Sweden side that will be missing their top-ranked player Elias Ymer after he withdrew citing “different views” with his coach about preparation.

Aleksandar Vukic has flown to Sweden with the team on the back of a third round finish at the Australian Open. Picture: Michael Klein

“Unfortunately I will not be playing the match this weekend against Australia,” he posted on Instagram.

“Having been a huge contributing factor to us playing in the highest division for many years and to us still being there, I was really looking forward to facing one of the best tennis nations in the world at a packed Royal, as you know is my favourite court.

“The captain and I had different views on how my preparation should be. I’m sure that with a little flexibility, we could have solved this – it’s not really a big deal.

“I know you should respect both sides in a discussion, but in this case, I unfortunately cannot even do that, it’s such a low level.”

Australia made the semi-finals of last year’s tournament but were eliminated by eventual champions Italy, with world No.8 Alex de Minaur to again lead the charge.

Originally published as Aleksandar Vukic brought into Australia’s Davis Cup squad as injuries force Nick Kyrgios to withdraw