Nick Kyrgios has fired back at Lleyton Hewitt, claiming the Australian co-captain “threw him under the bus” following his late United Cup withdrawal. After Kyrgios withdrew from the United Cup, Hewitt called out Kyrgios over “a lack of communication” and indicated that the 27-year-old didn’t even bother to let the team know about his intention.
On Friday, Ajla Tomljanovic pulled out of her singles match versus Harriet Dart due to injury – she was replaced by Maddison Inglis, who lost as Great Britain clinched the third key point to secure victory over Australia.
Hewitt and Sam Stosur are co-captaining the Australian United Cup team. “Mmm I wonder if Stosur will throw her under the bus like our captain did for me.‘Hard to prepare when you don’t know what’s going on,'” Kyrgios tweeted.
Mmm I wonder if Stosur will throw her under the bus like our captain did for me….. ‘hard to prepare when you don’t know what’s going on’ 🤭🤭 — Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) December 30, 2022
Hewitt wasn’t happy with Kyrgios’ behavior
On Wednesday – just hours before the start of the inaugural United Cup – Kyrgios announced his withdrawal from the tournament due to an ankle injury.
Reportedly, Kyrgios pulled out of the United Cup because he didn’t want to risk aggravating his injury ahead of the Australian Open. But when Hewitt was asked about Kyrgios’ late withdrawal, it was clear that the Australian team co-captain wasn’t happy about what happened.
“I was in the same boat as all the other players. I didn’t know any more. It was pretty tough for everyone. It was more probably the lack of communication and these guys not knowing. I’m so proud of this bloke (de Minaur) and the effort and how he makes playing for his country a priority.
It’s something I’m very proud of him (about). I think for the whole team it was pretty tough not knowing what was going on the last 24 hours,” Hewitt said after Kyrgios’ withdrawal. In recent months, Kyrgios has indicated that Grand Slams are the tournaments that matter the most to him.
It is not a secret that Kyrgios badly wants to win a Grand Slam and he has made it clear that he will be aiming for the title at the Australian Open.
