Leave me out of it, insists Kokkinakis

Thanasi Kokkinakis last night conceded he was disappointed and surprised to have been overlooked for a wildcard.

Thanasi Kokkinakis speaks to the media after retiring from the Australian Open last night. Picture: AAP

After being thrust into the furore surrounding Bernard Tomic’s stinging critique of Lleyton Hewitt and Tennis Australia, Thanasi Kokkinakis last night conceded he was disappointed and surprised to have been overlooked for a wildcard into the Australian Open.

But the South Australian, who was forced to withdraw mid-match while leading Taro Daniel at Melbourne Park yesterday due to an injury sustained during qualifying, vowed to remove himself from any future controversy surrounding wildcards by working his way back into the top 100.

“(A wildcard decision) is for them to decide. I felt like I did (deserve one). Again, I have just got to not even be in that conversation next time. I (have) just got to not worry about it (and) have a good year. If I stay healthy, I’m not in this position 12 months on.”

Kokkinakis refused to comment on the veracity of claims made by Tomic, who alleged Hewitt was manipulating the wildcard system for his personal benefit and that of players in his favour.

Nor would he comment on a question regarding whether he supported the former world No 1’s tenure as Davis Cup captain.

The stunning criticism Tomic levelled at the national federation and the Davis Cup captain following a loss to Marin Cilic on Monday night prompted a string of Australian greats to rush to the defence of Hewitt, who said he had laughed off the accusations.

Doubles legend Todd Woodbridge and Newcombe Medallist Sam Groth were among those to slam Tomic’s attack, while Hewitt’s long-time manager David Drysdale declared the Gold Coast-raised player’s critique was riddled with inaccuracies.

But former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash said the allegations, if true, were disturbing.

“Maybe Bernie’s got a point, maybe there’s a grain of truth into this, maybe there’s more than a grain of truth,” Cash told SEN Afternoons.

“If it is true, then it’s a bit worrying I’ve got to say. I think Bernie might have just opened a can of worms here, he may not have, let’s get it cleared up.

“People can make up their own mind whether it’s a conflict of interest or not, but if you’re Thanasi Kokkinakis, your ranking was pretty high and you get overlooked by somebody who is within the management team, then you would wonder.”

Among the claims levelled by Tomic, a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 2011, is that Hewitt is benefiting from receiving wildcards into doubles tournaments.

The 2001 US Open champion received a wildcard into the Brisbane International with Alex de Minaur and the Sydney International with Jordan Thompson.

He will play doubles as a wildcard entrant alongside John-Patrick Smith in this Australian Open, with the pair’s opening round match slated for tomorrow.

In a brief interview with the Australian Open’s host broadcaster the Nine Network yesterday, Hewitt addressed accusations of an alleged rift with Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios, with Tomic declaring the pair would not play Davis Cup for him because “no one likes” Hewitt.

Australia will host Bosnia-Herzegovina in Adelaide on February 1 and 2 in the qualifying round of the drastically altered competition.

“I don’t think there is a rift,” Hewitt said.

“There is always communication going on between captain, coaches and the players, and leading into the next tie that will all happen.

“Those boys are going off for big matches today. We’ve spoken before the Australian Open, we’ll continue to speak leading into the next Davis Cup tie. Then we work out next week our best team moving forward in the Adelaide tie.”

The players preferred to Kokkinakis for wildcards have performed well at Melbourne Park. After Marc Polmans was beaten in five sets on the opening day, Alex Bolt and Alexei Popyrin performed strongly yesterday.

Bolt dropped the first set against American Jack Sock before rebounding to win in convincing fashion, while Popyrin was too solid for German Mischa Zverev, who entered the match under an injury cloud.

The injury to Kokkinakis places him under a cloud if he remains in Hewitt’s plans for the tie.