Hewitt slams 'lack of communication' surrounding Kyrgios United Cup withdrawal

Nick Kyrgios didn't make the Australian United Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt happy by his withdrawal from the event.

The 2022 Wimbledon finalist was supposed to be the leader of the Australian team at the inaugural event that takes place in three Australian cities. However, 24 hours before the United Cup was scheduled to start, Kyrgios withdrew from the event. Although withdrawals are a normal thing in tennis, it was something else that bothered the team captain.

"For the whole team, it was pretty tough not knowing what was going on the last 24 hours," Hewitt said. "It was more probably the lack of communication. If it was just worrying Nick, that's one thing, but when it revolves around the team and other people and I guess their preparation."

"They want to be playing as well as they can, not just in this event but also leading into the Australian Open. That's probably the hardest thing."

Alex de Minaur had to step up as the Australian no. 1 as Jason Kubler was promoted to no. 2 ATP player. De Minaur lost his opening match to Cameron Norrie in two sets but regardless of the results, Hewitt is proud of him because of many reasons.

"I'm so proud of this bloke and the effort and how he makes playing for his country a priority," he said. "To have (the change) thrown on him yesterday wasn't easy. He's got to play two lefties now, where he was planning on playing two righties. It is completely different. But he's not going to make excuses, that's for sure."