Davis Cup 2022: Nick Kyrgios not picked in the Australian team

Despite his recent doubles triumph at the Australian Open, Nick Kyrgios has been omitted from Australia's Davis Cup 2022 team. Although his partner Thanasi Kokkinakis has been picked by captain Lleyton Hewitt. Last week, Kokkinakis and Kyrgios won their maiden grand slam title by winning the men's doubles crown at the Australian Open. However, Kyrgios' performance was not adequate to earn him a position in the Australian Davis Cup 2022 team.

For the March 4-5 encounter in Sydney, team captain Lleyton Hewitt has chosen rookie Luke Saville, Thanasi Kokkinakis. Doubles specialist John Peers, Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur, and Alexei Popyrin are also a part of the team. However, Hewitt believes his team has enough firepower to equal the Hungarians.

Read also: Del Potro set to return to ATP Tour for the first time since June 2019

The team captain's reaction

However, in the team captain Lleyton Hewitt's words, "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. 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. 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 firepowers out there. A lot of weapons as well and certainly 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. Also, Luke gets his first opportunity to represent Australia at Davis Cup. It's something he has worked extremely hard for, and I couldn't be prouder of him to get this opportunity and being able to present him with a gold jacket and his number," Hewitt added further.

Read also: Del Potro announces retirement after ATP 250 Buenos Aires

Hungary have announced Fucsovics, Zsombor Piros, Fabian Marozsan, Mate Valkusz and Peter Fajta in their team. Captain Zoltan Nagy will be their leader.

On March 4-5, the Aussies will face Hungary. The Australian team will be led by World No. 39 Marton Fuscovics. Last November, the two teams clashed in the round-robin phase of the Davis Cup Finals on hardcourt in Turin, Italy. Whereas, the Australians achieved a 2-1 triumph.