Cup captain doubles up with Kyrgios at Queen’s

It should come as little surprise that Lleyton Hewitt has struggled to completely let go of his tennis career.

Australia'’ Nick Kyrgios acknowledges Andy Murray at Queen's Club. Picture: AFP.

Given his on-court talent for tenacity, it should come as little surprise that Lleyton Hewitt has struggled to completely let go of his tennis career.

After retiring in 2015, the former world No 1 has continued to play occasionally in doubles tournaments and will this week join Nick Kyrgios on the grass court at London’s Queen’s Club Championships.

The duo, Kyrgios, 23, and Hewitt, 37, will take on French pairing Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in their first round match.

Before that, Kyrgios is up against local hope Andy Murray, who is returning for his first game after a year off due to injury.

Speaking ahead of the match, Kyrgios, who has also suffered injury setbacks, described the Scotsman as a “good mate” and empathised with his injury lay-off.

“I know the last year for you has been incredibly tough,” Kyrgios said in a video posted to social media.

“Unfortunately, we got drawn to play against each other this year at Queen’s. I’m not going to go easy on you but at the same time, it’s great to see you back.”

Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon champion, won at Queen’s four times in his career, with his last victory coming in 2006.

He described Kyrgios as an “extraordinary talent”, destined for the “top 10”.

The Davis Cup captain, who has also partnered with Aussies Sam Groth and Alex De Minaur, said he enjoyed being able to play alongside the younger generation and was still competitive when out on the court.

“I still feel I’m capable to go out and play with the best guys, especially on the doubles court,” he said. “I enjoy playing the game and I guess when I retired it was probably more so from singles.

“When you are retired, you are retired for an awfully long time, so I guess while my body is still able and mentally I’m willing to go out there and train and stay in good shape, I might as well go out there and give it a go. It’s going to be fun to go out there with Nick.”

A vocal critic of flagged changes to the format of the team-oriented Davis Cup, Hewitt said the new reforms would “kill” the tournament.

“I don’t think there is a doubt about it,” he said.

“It would be a totally new event, it’s not the Davis Cup. You cannot throw over 100 years of history down the drain for money.” Hewitt said he could live with small changes, such as the previous years’ finalists being given a bye, but slammed the International Tennis Federation’s handling of the reform.

“I just think we need better people running the sport in terms of the ITF at the moment,” he said.

“I don’t think they have enough knowledge and we just can’t sell our soul for this event.”

Hewitt also spoke of his frustration with Bernard Tomic, who he described as a “talented guy”.

But he said Tomic was “not even close” to being part of the Davis Cup team.