Tomic off Davis Cup radar

Lleyton Hewitt lashes Bernard Tomic, saying it’s unlikely the fallen star will ever play Davis Cup for Australia again.

Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt talks to teenager Alex de Minaur at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane yesterday

Lleyton Hewitt has issued a scornful rebuttal of Bernard Tomic’s assertion Australia could not win without him, saying it was unlikely the fallen star would ever play Davis Cup again.

“It’s highly doubtful,” Hewitt said when asked if Tomic could fight his way back into the team. “He’s made some mistakes. It will be a long way back.’’

In a further bizarre twist, Tomic last night said it was a mistake that he opted to join the cast of reality television show I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here, which is being filmed in South Africa.

So he immediately quit the show in the African jungle after just three days, saying he had found clarity and would be “back on the court as soon as possible’’. “I’ve got to get back to where I belong,” Tomic said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.

“I need to go back to doing what I do and doing what I do best.’’

Clearly frustrated by criticism that Tennis Australia could do more to help the fallen star, Hewitt said Tomic’s predicament was his own doing.

“He’s digging a big hole for himself that he may never get out of,” Hewitt said.

The Davis Cup captain declared the national body, and several people associated with tennis, had done their best to help the former Australian No 1 regain his motivation and focus.

“We have made a lot of approaches and steps at Tennis Australia,” he said.

“Believe me, we can’t do a lot more. The last two years have been a lot of hard work for people.

“We bent over backwards to help Bernie in so many ways and at the end of the day, you have got to want to help yourself as well.

“We can only hand out an olive branch and you have to be ready to take that.”

Hewitt, who is in Brisbane preparing his side for a tie against Germany beginning on Friday, has so far been diplomatic in his role as Davis Cup captain.

But he is also well versed in dealing with the chaos that can whirl around the former prodigy.

Based on his form, fitness and current ranking of 168, it is doubtful Tomic would have been a squad member for this tie even if he had not opted to join the cast of I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here.

“I think everyone knows he wouldn’t help us right now. It is pretty obvious,” Hewitt said. “There is probably a lot more that plays out behind the scenes than what Bernie has said publicly. For me, he has made some mistakes and it will be a long way back.

“It is pointless him going round and playing quallies if he is not committed to the sport.

“It is strange. You either want to be a tennis player or you don’t. He is wasting not only his time but everyone around him as well.

“He has to commit to the sport and everything around it if he is to have any chance of coming back.”

Hewitt had full confidence in a squad that was beaten narrowly by Belgium in a semi-final in Brussels last September.

“With the team camaraderie we have the moment, it is as good as I have been a part of for a long time,” he said. “We fully believe the players we have here, we can go a long way. Last year we were bloody close to making it to the Davis Cup final and hosting France in the final and I would back these boys to go one step further this year.”

Hewitt, meanwhile, did not rule himself out of playing in the pivotal doubles tie against Germany on Saturday just a week after reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with Sam Groth. But he also kept offering answers at the press conference that were designed to keep the Germans guessing about Australia’s line-up for the weekend. Hewitt has stepped in before but only when Nick Kyrgios became ill two years ago. That is not the case this week and Hewitt was enthusiastic about Jordan Thompson’s doubles prowess last week.

Hewitt also has a squad of six to choose from, with Australian No 2 Matt Ebden also in Brisbane preparing with the Davis Cup team.

The Germans will be led by Alexander Zverev who will be under huge pressure to win both singles rubbers. The world No 5 will play Australia’s second singles player on Friday, before facing Kyrgios in the fourth rubber on Sunday.