Lleyton Hewitt still considers Bernard Tomic as a crucial asset for Davis Cup ties – Tennis News
Former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt, has shown his discontent over the selection criteria of the Davis Cup team and stated that the non-participation of the 52nd ranked Bernard Tomic is not going to help the cause
of the country at all.
In February 2013, Australia will visit Kaohsiung City to play an Asia/Oceania zone tie against the squad of Taiwan. They are expected to beat the underdogs but Tomic snub can make it difficult for them to accomplish the prescribed
goal.
In this regard, Hewitt stated, “It's going to be tough to do it without him (Tomic) because he is capable of winning at least one of the singles against most countries. Obviously he's not going to be playing the first tie (in Taiwan)
and who knows after that, it's not my call.”
Hewitt has been the most prolific performer in the Davis Cup matches for his country. The 83rd ranked Aussie has struggled with a foot injury in the last couple of seasons but still hasn’t declined to play in any of
the team contests so far. The results are probably not up to the mark but his determination and willpower has driven the home team quite far ahead.
The 31-year-old Hewitt is still eager to contest in the professional field for foreseeable future. He isn’t thinking of retirement anytime soon despite a couple of injury-stricken rough seasons. On answering the question about
coaching the 20-year-old Tomic, he smiled and stated, “I don't know about that. I really haven't thought much about what I might be doing when my career is finished. Pat always says to me I can have the Davis Cup job after him so we'll wait and see. At the
moment I'm still trying to grind it out and play against these younger guys let along coaching them.”
He has contested the most number of ties for Australia in the Davis Cup than any of his compatriots and remains a strong contestant for the next couple of years at least. However, he believes that Tomic will play a very important
part in the future and his non-participation can cause a lot of hullabaloo amongst the fans as well as the Federation and player.
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