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Sydney - Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt left out Bernard
Tomic on Tuesday as he named an unchanged team for the Davis Cup World Group
quarter-final clash with the United States.
Temperamental world number 16 Nick Kyrgios spearheads the
same side that swept past the Czech Republic in the last round, with Sam Groth,
Jordan Thompson and doubles specialist John Peers on board for the April 7-9
clash in Brisbane.
"Nick's obviously our number one player, and we'll be
relying on him heavily to get us through the tie," said Hewitt,
Australia's most successful Davis Cup player with a total of 58 victories.
"He's beaten a lot of quality players since our first
round tie against the Czech Republic, and I feel the court in Brisbane is
really going to suit him."
Tomic, once a stalwart of the team, skipped the Czech tie
citing scheduling issues and he is again absent for the USA clash.
The 24-year-old pulled out of the Miami Open with a back
injury this week. He has been in a poor run of form, with no wins on the ATP
Tour since the Australian Open in January.
But media reports suggested his absence from the Davis Cup
team was due to an on-going feud between his coach and father, John, and Tennis
Australia over lack of funding and wildcard support for Tomic's younger sister
Sara.
United States captain Jim Courier is yet to name his side, although Tennis Australia said it was expected to also be unchanged, meaning Jack Sock, John Isner, Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey will make the trip to Brisbane.
