Hewitt weighs Kyrgios' Davis Cup workload

Former world No.1 and Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt says a lighter schedule could help Nick Kyrgios to further success.

Australia's Nick Kyrgios returns the ball

Australia's Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt says a lighter schedule could help Nick Kyrgios. (AAP)

Australia's Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt has played down the likelihood of Nick Kyrgios competing on all three days during next week's clash with Germany in Brisbane.

The former world No.1 has also urged Kyrgios to carefully consider his schedule to ensure he can continue to perform at a high level after a strong start to the year.

Kyrgios will spearhead the hosts' World Group first-round tie, with Jordan Thompson, John Millman, doubles specialist John Peers and Alex de Minaur named in a five-man team.

Australia's second-highest ranked player Matthew Ebden will also travel with the team and remains in the mix for a late call-up after beating world No.16 John Isner at the Australian Open.

World No.17 Kyrgios will carry the hopes in the singles after a strong campaign at Melbourne Park, brought to an end by third seed Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round.

But Hewitt was unsure whether he'd be willing to put Kyrgios through what could be 15 sets over three days against a German side led by world No.4 Alexander Zverev.

"Right now, I won't rule it out," Hewitt said on Friday.

"But I've got to prepare other guys to play because I just know how hard Davis Cup is, not just physically but mentally.

"For Nick to possibly play 15 sets is not easy.

"So much depends on the scoreline and what happens on day one and then how important that fourth match might be as well. I'd probably, at this stage, prefer to have him fresh for that."

Kyrgios won plenty of admirers with his Open campaign and the 23-year-old credited his time in the Davis Cup fold and its team environment with aiding his development.

According to Hewitt, his next challenge is to work out the optimal schedule to ensure he can continue to chase grand slam success.

"Nick's a different kind of player ... he doesn't need too many warm-up events to play well at big tournaments and over five sets," Hewitt said.

"Sometimes when you're chasing that ranking of getting in the top 10 or getting in the top five, you're getting dollars thrown at you to play in a lot of the smaller tournaments and stuff like that.

"He's just got to sit back and work out what's best for him, his body and his career."


Share

3 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world