The most damaging shots of this Australian Open were fired by a first-round casualty.
Bernard Tomic went nuclear on Lleyton Hewitt charging the Australian Davis Cup captain has "ruined" the team, alienated his players and cashed in on conflict of interest.
Kyrgios: I Feel Like Dogs**t
In a stunning verbal assault following his straight-sets loss to Marin Cilic, Tomic trashed his former captain saying "no one likes" Hewitt and later suggesting he once threatened to "knock out" the man who holds Australian records for most Davis Cup wins and ties played.
"Two years ago, I said ‘If he ever tries to talk to me, I’ll knock him out’,” Tomic said in comments published by News Corp.
Tomic, who posted a 17-4 career Davis Cup record before a bitter fall-out with Tennis Australia and Hewitt, charges neither Nick Kyrgios nor Thanasi Kokkinakis will play Davis Cup for Hewitt either.
"It’s all Lleyton. I’m going to say it honestly. No one likes him any more,” Tomic said. “He’s doing the wrong thing. He’s playing Davis Cup. I thought he’d retired. He’s playing all these matches and stuff like that.
“Absolutely, Kokkinakis, Kyrgios, we don’t want to play anymore because he’s ruined it. He’s ruined the system. Like, go away. I thought he’d retired, like, why are you still in tennis? Why do you still play all these doubles tournaments?”
Tomic branded Hewitt selfish for inserting himself into the doubles line-up at times and claims the captain has a conflict of interest rewarding players represented by his management company with wild cards and roster spots.
"They’re all under his wing so he gets a percentage of that,” Tomic said. "It’s a conflict of interest and I think that’s terrible. Am I right or am I wrong?
"They’re all under his wing, under the management company. So it’s all a conflict of interest. The more they make here, the more he takes. You know what he’s doing and I think it’s wrong."
Asked his reaction to Tomic's rant, Hewitt told Australia's Channel Nine it is laughable.
"I had a bit of a laugh to be honest, especially after a loss (Monday) night going in and complaining about a few things, so for me I just laugh it off and move forward, Hewitt told Nine Network.
The two-time Grand Slam champion says he doesn't believe there is a conflict with Kyrgios, who played for Australia in the 2018 Davis Cup first round, or Kokkinakis, who was reportedly disappointed being bypassed in favor of John Millman in Australia's most recent tie.
"I don't think there's a rift (with Kyrgios and Kokkinakis)," Hewitt said. "There's always communication going out between the captain, coaches and the players, and leading into the next tie that will all happen.
"We've spoken before the Australian Open, we'll continue to speak after the Australian Open into the next Davis Cup tie, then we work out next week our next team moving forward for the Adelaide tie, but for me I just love being a part of helping the Australian players as much as possible."
The toxic fall-out from Tomic verbally thrashing the former world No. 1 threatens to create complete civil war on the squad ahead of Australia hosting Bosnia-Herzegovina in Hewitt's hometown of Adelaide in the February 1-2nd opening round.
In the aftermath of his opening-round exit, Kyrgios didn't exactly issue a rousing endorsement for Hewitt.
Asked if a rift exists with the captain, Kyrgios shrugged and replied "not really" adding "I don't know what to say. Like, I don't have a big deal with anything. I've always wanted to play Davis Cup. I love Davis Cup. If I don't play, I don't play. Like, I'm available. That's all I got to say. Like, what do you want from me?"
Asked if he was upset with Tomic dragging his name into the dispute, Kyrgios replied "I am not upset."
"I think it's ridiculous, to be honest," Kyrgios concluded. "With all the issues that are going on in the world, we're focusing on someone's comments about Davis Cup. It's pretty sad. It's pretty sad."
Last January, Hewitt said Tomic had burned his bridges with the TA and the team and said it was unlikely Tomic would ever play for Australia again.
"We can't do any more, believe me,” Hewitt said. “The last two years has been hard work for a lot of people, we've bent over backwards to help Bernie in so many ways.”
"At the end of the day you've got to want to help yourself as well, we can only hand out an olive branch and you've got to be willing to take that," Hewitt said then. "He's digging a big hole for himself that he may not be able to get out of."
Photo credit: Tennis Australia