The public dispute between Australia’s top two men’s tennis players has continued with Nick Kyrgios hitting back at Davis Cup team-mate Bernard Tomic’s claims that he faked illness to miss the weekend’s tie against the US.
Kyrgios pulled out of the tie at Kooyong with a virus, although Tomic was later picked up by court microphones complaining to team captain Lleyton Hewitt and questioning the legitimacy of his compatriot’s illness.
Tomic maintained his stance in the post-match press conference, suggesting Kyrgios had twice previously faked injuries to get out of Davis Cup duties.
Kyrgios took to social media on Sunday night, fanning the flames of the dispute by referencing the unenviable record Tomic holds for the quickest defeat on the men’s tour – a 6-0, 6-1 defeat to Jarkko Nieminen in Miami two years ago.
“Let’s not forget who holds the quickest loss on the ATP Tour lol,” Kyrgios posted. “#howmanyminutesagain.”
That tweet was soon deleted but Kyrgios followed it with: “Heat of the moment, not gonna take it personally. Indian Wells a week away, plenty of time.
“Just don’t expect me to have your back anytime soon.”
Former doubles champion and twice Davis Cup winner Todd Woodbridge was critical of the players’ behaviour, saying Tomic’s grievances – and Kyrgios’ response to them – should not have been aired in public.
“I thought, well that will get dropped once he comes off the court, and he didn’t,” Woodbridge told SEN Radio. “I was really surprised like everybody to hear that from him.
“You get through those moments, they are locker-room moments, they’re not television moments and they’re not press-conference moments.”
Hewitt’s predecessor as Australia captain, Wally Masur, sought to play down the row, saying the exchange will soon be forgotten by pair – as early as next week’s tournament in Indian Wells.
“What’s happened has happened and, for me, the best thing is that they both play Indian Wells in five days’ time,” Masur told Fox Sports News. “That they just meet up in the locker room ... shake hands and just get on with it.
“We don’t play another Davis Cup tie until September so there will be a lot of water under the bridge from now until then.”
Tomic, who played with a wrist injury during the defeat to the US in Kooyong on the weekend, had suggested that Kyrgios was not really suffering from a virus.
“Bullshit he’s sick,” Tomic said on court during his loss to John Isner, which gave the US an unassailable lead in the tie, before later saying he would lose respect for his compatriot if he were to play at Indian Wells next week.
Kyrgios’s claims of illness were backed by the Australian team camp though, with Hewitt and Masur both vouching for the world No 27.
Hewitt was adamant that “there is absolutely no doubt he was sick”, while Masur said: “I didn’t see him but the word was that he had a virus and his actual mouth was ulcerated and the guy was pretty fatigued.”
John Peers, the doubles player brought into the team for the first time over the weekend, also backed Kyrgios and said he was a “a little” disappointed by Tomic’s on-court comments.
“But I think Bernie just got a little heated in the moment but it all calmed itself down,” he said. “I think Lleyton made the right decision to begin with. Nick came down to do a fitness test and, according to medical staff, didn’t get through it.
“So Lleyton had to make the tough decision and go with the strongest team we could put out on the field that was healthy to play.”
