Thanasi Kokkinakis has shut down suggestions Nick Kyrgios was snubbed from Australia’s Davis Cup team.
Australian tennis fans were shocked earlier this week when it was revealed that Kyrgios wouldn’t be part of Australia’s upcoming Sydney tie against Hungary in March.
Kokkinakis was rewarded with a call up to the Australian team following his successful summer of tennis, in which he and Kyrgios claimed the Australian Open doubles title.
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Kokkinakis also won his first ATP title at men’s Adelaide International two.
Captain Lleyton Hewitt opted to go with debutant Luke Saville, Kokkinakis, doubles specialist John Peers, top-ranked Aussie Alex de Minaur and world number 65 Alexei Popyrin.
And while Kyrgios hasn’t played in the Davis Cup since 2019, Kokkinakis confirmed his doubles partner made himself unavailable for selection.
“He definitely was asked to play,” Kokkinakis told Sky News when asked if Kyrgios was snubbed.
“He has a few things on so he wasn’t able to play but he definitely didn’t get snubbed or anything – I saw those headlines and he didn’t get snubbed at all. Hopefully, we can team up again in the future.
“I think Nick has shown he always loves playing for Australia. I’m not sure exactly what he has on, but he obviously has something pretty important.
“He’s obviously in our strongest team. He was definitely asked, and I think he and Lleyton have a good relationship, but he just wasn’t available for this time.”
At the time of the team announcement, Hewitt said he named a team he believes will be can unsettle the Hungarians, who will be led by world number 39 Marton Fucsovics.
“Alex has had most of his recent success in Sydney, winning the Sydney international a few years back but also some of his best results last month, including quality wins against [Matteo] Berrettini and [Ugo] Humbert,” Hewitt said.
“Thanasi had a fantastic Australian summer. He really cemented himself as a top-100 player again, winning his first title at home in Adelaide and beating quality players.
https://twitter.com/TKokkinakis/status/1490623917446156290
“And then to go on to win the Australian Open doubles, this is going to give him a lot of confidence heading into this tie.
“Popyrin got an opportunity to play a big Davis Cup match in the finals last year. He has a lot of firepower out there, a lot of weapons as well, and certainly [is] an option for singles or doubles.
“John Peers has been a regular in the Davis Cup team for a number of years now. He’s a top 15 doubles player. He won the Sydney Tennis Classic a couple of weeks ago and played exceptionally well with Luke Saville at the ATP Cup last month.
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