Jim Courier says his United States team will have to do something special to stop in-form Australian No.1 Nick Kyrgios in their Davis Cup quarter-final in Brisbane starting on Friday.
Kyrgios arrived in Queensland on Monday morning fresh from his epic three-set semi-final loss to eventual champion Roger Federer at the Miami Open, widely rated one of the greatest matches in recent years.
The US team captain said world No.16 Kyrgios had been "on fire" since his second-round Australian Open exit in January.
"Nick has been playing some of the best tennis on tour this season so he's in great form and he should have a lot of confidence," Courier said.
"We're going to have to do something special to beat him."
Kyrgios will lead Australia's singles charge with world No.79 Jordan Thompson, while John Peers and Sam Groth will carry the nation's hopes in the doubles.
The US will be headed by world No.15 Jack Sock and No. 23 John Isner, as well as Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson, with Courier yet to decide on his doubles combination without the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, on board.
Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt said last week that the strong American team would feel they had two wins already banked given their large rankings advantage over Thompson.
Hewitt said world No.43 Bernard Tomic wasn't considered for his team due to a combination of "unavailability, fitness and lack of form".
While Courier said he wasn't privy to Tomic's issues, he thought Hewitt would be disappointed not to have him and he insisted his team wouldn't take Thompson lightly.
Thompson impressed in Australia's first-round win over Czech Republic at Kooyong in February, when Tomic was also unavailable for selection.
"We've lost to a lot of players ranked lower than someone like Jordan Thompson so there won't be any complacency on our end," Courier said.
"We've seen too many surprises; we've beaten Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka in this competition while we were ranked below and lost to players outside the top 100 so everything's up for grabs in Davis Cup."
The best-of-five match tie will be played on an outdoor hard court in Brisbane.
The US leads Australia 26-20 in their Davis Cup meetings, including a victory by the Americans in last year's first round in Melbourne.
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