Hewitt refutes Aussie tennis rift after Tomic blast

MELBOURNE: Lleyton Hewitt refuted claims Tuesday of a gaping rift in Australian tennis after firebrand Bernard Tomic slammed the Davis Cup skipper, claiming he had ruined the national system and “no one likes him any more”.

The combustible 26-year-old unloaded on the Australian two-time Grand Slam champion after being bundled out of Melbourne Park at the first hurdle.He alleged there were deep divisions in the Australian men’s game. “It’s all Lleyton. I’m going to say it honestly — no one likes him anymore,” said Tomic, who had a car-crash 2018 season and faced a backlash after boasting that “I just count my millions”.

“He’s just doing the wrong thing. He’s playing Davis Cup — I thought he was retired. You know what I mean?”Tomic claimed that he and countrymen Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios “don’t want to play (Davis Cup) any more because he’s ruined the system”.

Hewitt played down Tomic’s extraordinary blast as “a bit of a laugh”.“I don’t think there’s a rift, there’s always communication going on between the captain, coaches and the players, and leading into the next tie that will all happen,” he told broadcaster Channel Nine.

“I had a bit of a laugh to be honest, especially after (Tomic’s) loss last night going in and complaining about a few things, so for me I just laugh it off and move forward.“I guess the disappointing thing, the Aussies had such a great day yesterday on both the men’s and the women’s side and it probably got overshadowed by Bernard’s comments.”