Hewitt accuses Tomic of threats
Lleyton Hewitt says Bernard Tomic attempted to blackmail him and made physical threats against him and his family, with Hewitt alleging that Tomic said he would refuse to play Davis Cup under his captaincy.
Responding to Tomic’s attack on him on Monday night, Hewitt said he had fallen out with the 26-year-old over what the former world No 1 described as ‘‘blackmail threats and physical [threats]’’.
‘‘From me it was probably the abuse I copped,’’ Hewitt said. ‘‘In the end I drew a line in the sand. He won’t play Davis Cup while I have anything to do with it.
‘‘I just think threats that I’ve received for me and my family – that I’ve had for a year and a half now – I don’t think that anyone would reach out to a person that speaks like that.’’
Asked to specify the nature of the blackmail, Hewitt said Tomic had threatened not to play Davis Cup.
He said the threats had been made against his family as well as him.
‘‘It started because of blackmail to do with wildcards,’’ Hewitt said. ‘‘This was over a year ago.
Tomic was overlooked for a wildcard spot at the 2018 Australian Open.
The 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinalist had admitted during the week that he had two years ago told Hewitt he would knock him out if he ever tried to talk to him.
Asked on Thursday night whether he felt threatened by Tomic, Hewitt replied ‘‘no’’.
Hewitt was responding to Tomic’s inflammatory takedown of him following his opening-round defeat to Marin Cilic.
He alleged the Davis Cup captain had favoured particular players, that Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis did not want to play for Australia under him and attacked him for playing doubles in Davis Cup and in the Australian summer.
The depth of the rift between the pair was laid bare by the 37-year-old after he and doubles partner John-Patrick Smith were defeated in the first round of the Australian Open doubles tournament.
Hewitt said Kyrgios was ‘‘absolutely’’ salvageable as a Davis Cup player in the future despite admitting his disappointment at the 23-year-old taking a potshot at him on social media on Wednesday night.
However, Tomic was finished when it came to the national team under his leadership, he said.
‘‘It makes me disappointed because deep down Bernie knows what I’ve done for him, how much time I’ve spent, you know, I’ve flown up to the Gold Coast to try and put teams around him when he was struggling mentally with certain issues as well with his family situation,’’ Hewitt said.
Hewitt said he and Davis Cup adviser Tony Roche were trying to set a ‘‘cultural standard’’ that both Tomic and Kyrgios had failed to meet.
‘‘All I want guys to do is to commit to the sport and work hard and to play for Australia,’’ he said.
‘‘With the new Davis Cup system, it’s only possibly twice a year, but it’s got to be every week of the year.
‘‘You’re representing your country every single week, you’ve got kids back in Australia idolising these guys. That’s one thing, the other is to go out and be a great role model the whole time. I’m happy to help anyone who is willing meet me halfway.
‘‘Nick . . . with what he said in Brisbane and not actually wanting to be there at the tournament, that hurts one of our Australian events.
‘‘He’s got some work to do to get up to those standards.
‘‘When I was working with Bernie, the biggest thing I probably saw with him is he didn’t work hard enough.’’
He said he had spoken to Kyrgios about his social media outbursts, which he deemed unacceptable.
‘‘Nick I feel still has a lot to learn, absolutely,’’ he said.
While Tomic is on the outer and Kyrgios has not fulfilled his enormous promise to date, Hewitt said he did not think Australian tennis was broken.
Hewitt was heartened by the surprise victories of Australian wildcards Alex Bolt and Alexei Popyrin on Thursday night.