Tennis: Nick Kyrgios unavailable for Australia’s Davis Cup tilt but team captain Lleyton Hewitt hopes to advance

In-form star Nick Kyrgios will head home after the US Open and skip Davis Cup duty as Australia prepares to contest a tricky group of opponents.

Nick Kyrgios won’t be bringing his blistering form to Davis Cup duty. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

Australia will go into Davis Cup battle in September without Nick Kyrgios again as team captain Lleyton Hewitt rewards Wimbledon doubles champions Matt Ebden and Max Purcell.

Alex de Minaur will spearhead the Australian squad, with Thanasi Kokkinakis to play the No.2 singles and the Ebden-Purcell combination aiming to continue their formidable form.

Alexei Popyrin and Jason Kubler, ranked No.76 and 118, respectively, round out the six-man squad that will contest the group stage in Hamburg against Germany, France and Belgium from September 13-18.

But Wimbledon finalist and recent Washington titlist Kyrgios, one of the world’s in-form players, will extend his Davis Cup absence, which dates back three years.

Kyrgios indicated after his loss in Montreal last week that he would play two more tournaments – at Cincinnati, then the US Open, where he will be seeded and among the title favourites – before heading home to Canberra.

“I’ve been on the road for nearly three months. I’ve been away from home, away from my mum, away from my dad,” he said.

Nick Kyrgios is one of the hottest players on the ATP Tour at the moment. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

“They’re not very well at the moment, so I don’t really care about ‘no winning streak’.

“As long as I’m not at home, I’m on the road, I want to try to put in good performances, make it worthwhile being here. I don’t care about records and any of that sort of stuff.”

Australia’s top-ranked doubles player, world No.9 John Peers – fresh from making the Montreal Masters final with Brit Dan Evans – is also not in the squad, after partnering a series of different countrymen with mixed success in the past few years.

Purcell will make his Davis Cup debut but has represented Australia in the ATP Cup, while Ebden returns to the national team for the first time since 2018.

They also made the Australian Open final together in January, losing to Kyrgios and Kokkinakis.

(from left) Matt Ebden and Max Purcell Picture: AFP

Hewitt’s squad edged past Hungary 3-2 in Sydney in March, with world No.20 de Minaur claiming both of his singles rubbers – and he will again be important if Australia is to advance from group C.

“We fought through a really tough qualifying match back in March against Hungary, which has now given us this opportunity to build on and the boys understand what’s at stake,” Hewitt said.

“I look forward to Alex leading the team in Hamburg. The group stage is always extra tough but our goal is to certainly qualify for the quarter-finals.

“It would have been great to have Nick in the team but unfortunately he was unavailable for this tie.”

Sixteen countries are competing in four round-robin groups, with the top two from each group progressing to the knockout stage in Malaga, Spain, between November 22-27.