Nick Kyrgios has accused Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt of “throwing me under the bus” over his late withdrawal from the United Cup.
Kyrgios withdrew from the tournament less than 24 hours before his match against Great Britain's Cameron Norrie. Hewitt is captain of Australia in the mixed-gender team event and was unhappy with the lack of communication he received from the world No.22 ahead of the tournament.
Former world No.1 and two-time Grand Slam winner Hewitt said he 'didn't know what was going on' and he had to wait 'a little while' to receive a response from his fellow Australian.
Asked how communication could be improved? Hewitt replied: "Just responding, that’s the normal way of doing it."
However, the comments infuriated Kyrgios who accused the Australian captain of “throwing me under the bus”. Kyrgios replied to a tweet about the late withdrawal of fellow Australian player Ajla Tomljanovic.
"'I wonder if (Samantha) Stosur (senior Australian women's player) will throw her under the bus like our captain did for me…. "hard to prepare when you don’t know what’s going on” (hand over face emoji)," tweeted Kyrgios.
Kyrgios trained at Sydney Olympic Park on Tuesday and claims that he informed Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley and United Cup tournament director Stephen Farrow of his potential withdrawal due to his injured ankle.
However, that news failed to reach Hewitt who slammed a 'lack of communication' from last year's Wimbledon finalist.
"I was in the same boat as all the other players yesterday, I didn’t know anymore," Hewitt added. "So it was pretty tough for everyone. It was more the lack of communication I think, for these guys not knowing.
"For the whole team, it was pretty tough not knowing what was going on for the last 24 hours. It’s more the communication, and if it was just worrying Nick, that’s one thing."
With just two weeks until the Australian Open commences Kyrgios made the decision to withdraw from the United Cup to increase his chances of recovery ahead of the first Grand Slam tournament of 2023.
“Anyone who plays professionally knows for sure,” Kyrgios told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Anyone outside of that wouldn’t have a great understanding. Going deep or not, winning a match at a Grand Slam level is not an easy task. People underestimate the pressure and the nerves with being a part of one of the biggest tournaments of the year.
“Throw in an injury and knowing you didn’t give yourself the best chance only adds to the mountain of pressure you face. So, feeling good physically is important.”
