Lleyton Hewitt won't stand in Nick Kyrgios's way if Australian tennis's walking headline makes good on his promise to pursue a professional basketball career.
Kyrgios gave Australia a dream start to the World Group playoff against Slovakia on Friday before reminding fans he only had a five-year window to help win back the Davis Cup.
Kyrgios's 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory over Andrej Martin on Friday earned Australia a 1-0 lead in Sydney before Bernard Tomic made it 2-0 with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-4 win over Jozef Kovalik.
But Kyrgios's clinical display was overshadowed by another vow to leave tennis behind for his other sporting love.
"I'm only playing for another four, five years," he mumbled when asked about Australia's long-term prospects with he and Tomic spearheading the team.
Kyrgios' pledge comes after the controversial star raised eyebrows last month when he revealed to the New York Times he planned on retiring by age 27.
Kyrgios also teased his Twitter followers with a promise to quit tennis if he'd won the US Open this month.
Hewitt is unsure how serious Kyrgios's threats are.
"He's probably having fun with you guys. I think he gets a bit of a laugh from some of the stuff you write and he throws it out there," said the Australian captain.
Hewitt, though, admitted he hoped Kyrgios would stick around - but only if his heart was in it.
"As long as he's playing top quality tennis," he said.
"But you don't want him playing tennis for the wrong reasons, either. A lot can happen in four or five years. He's only 21."
Tomic, who often plays basketball with Kyrgios, said his teammate had been invited to feature in the NBA All Stars celebrity game next year.
"Hopefully he can score a few points there. Nick is very good at basketball. Very good," Tomic said.
Asked if he felt Kyrgios could make a career of basketball, Hewitt said: "Well, put it this way. He destroys (Gael) Monfils - and Monfils can play."
Never a dull moment, Kyrgios also had to overcome a nose bleed during the third set of his win over Martin and couldn't help but take a pot shot at world No.1 Novak Djokovic after refusing to let the distraction stop him.
Djokovic was criticised for taking a medical time-out to have his toes taped while trailing Stan Wawrinka by two sets to one and a service break in last week's US Open final.
Kyrgios opted only to have running repairs, with tissues placed in his nostril during a changeover before he completed his straight-sets win.
"I'm not like trying to do a Novak at the US Open," he said.
"Like, I've got a blood nose, mate. I've got to fix it. I can't play with blood coming out of my nose.
"I mean, I want to play. I don't want to take breaks. It was tough. It breaks the momentum. Obviously, the other guy doesn't really know what's going on either.
"I want to get the match going as quickly as possible as anyone. I don't want to hang around."
Not on Friday and not for more than five years, it seems.
