A fresh brouhaha between Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt threatens the Aussie No.2's future participation in Davis Cup meets.
As Australia booked a home quarter-final against the United States in April with a 4-1 rout of Czech Republic at Kooyong, the pair engaged in an unedifying war of words.
Tomic - who made himself unavailable to face the Czech Republic - declared himself also unavailable for the US tie, impressing no one in the Australian camp.
On the eve of the clash, Hewitt said he believed Tomic's father John was curbing the 24-year-old's potential.
The world No.32 hit back on Sunday, telling News Corp the Davis Cup captain was "wrong and disappointing".
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"My father hasn't really been involved in my career for the last two to three years," he said.
"Coming back from No.130 in the world to No.16, I did this with my own team. My father has been helping my sister Sara during this time."
Hewitt said he was annoyed that his advances had been rebutted.
"This tie has been really frustrating. I have put a lot of time and effort into Bernie," he told Triple M.
"His father has a massive influence on him.
"I don't feel like while his father is around and in the picture and involved in his tennis so heavily he's going to have a chance to fulfil his potential."
On Sunday after his team had wrapped up the first-round clash, Hewitt said he couldn't say whether Tomic had a future in the Australian set-up.
"I don't know. I'm not sure. I can't answer that," he said.
"I'm not going into it here. We're here to talk about the Davis Cup and what happened this weekend."
John Tomic also rebutted Hewitt, calling him "totally incorrect", and suggesting his son didn't feel comfortable playing this weekend.
He is no stranger to controversy, serving a 12-month ban from tour events in 2013 for headbutting player Thomas Drouet and breaking his nose.
While Hewitt oversaw the 4-1 win, Sara Tomic won a qualifying match for a Challenger tournament in Launceston on her 19th birthday.
She defeated Abbie Myers 2-6 6-4 7-5 in a topsy-turvy affair.
