Lleyton Hewitt claims 'American meeting' kept Kyrgios out of Davis Cup tie

Australia's Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt claims Nick Kyrgios could have been a part of the Davis Cup team if he want to, but a private meeting prevented him from participating this week.

Kyrgios won the men's doubles title at the 2022 Australian Open, and would have been a no-brainer choice to help booster Australia's chances at the Davis Cup. However, the former World No.13 opted not to be available for the qualifier in Sydney, although he has an open invitation to return, according to Hewitt.

Furthermore, the former World No.1 gave a cryptic answer when asked why Kyrgios didn't play, stating the Canberran star "had a meeting in America, so it made it pretty tough."

“We wanted him back for this match, so it’s disappointing that he wasn’t available for this particular tie,” Hewitt said. "But he’s in the top five players in our team. I get along extremely well with Nick and we have plenty of open discussions and he loves playing, but he’s got a lot of other things going on at the same time as well.

“Hopefully, he gets the opportunity to be back in the team because he really enjoys being around the boys and I actually think it helps his tennis and his enjoyment of the sport as well.

“At times, it can break up a really long year … tennis is a pretty individual sport throughout the 12 months travelling, so hopefully we get through this match and he’s available later in the year.”

Kyrgios last played in the Davis Cup for Australia against Belgium in November 2019.