This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Bernard Tomic has launched an astonishing broadside at Lleyton Hewitt on his way out of the Australian Open, accusing the Davis Cup captain of splitting Australia’s playing ranks.

Tomic was defeated 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) by the world No 7, Marin Cilic, on Monday on his return to the tournament, a year after losing in qualifying for his home grand slam. He then closed the door on a Davis Cup return under Hewitt and exposed deep rifts among Australian players.

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“No one likes him any more,” Tomic said of Hewitt. “We have a lot of issues that not a lot of players are happy about. We all know who those players are. Myself, [Thanasi] Kokkinakis, [Nick] Kyrgios.”

Kokkinakis, who defeated Roger Federer in an injury-ravaged 2018, was overlooked for a wildcard at the 2019 tournament in favour of Alexei Popyrin, Marc Polmans and Alex Bolt.

Tomic hit out at Hewitt’s promotion of Open debutant Polmans, the world No 169, and Bolt, who has played at three majors without winning a match.

“He used to hate Tennis Australia, it’s weird. Now he loves them. What’s happened here?” he said.

Tomic said it was time for Hewitt to move on as Davis Cup captain. “I played Davis Cup for 10 years. I think I played at the youngest age of Australian history when I was 15. Lleyton’s legacy and his tennis speaks for itself. He’s an unbelievable champion. But what he’s doing now is wrong. I hope he gets moved and we can go back to having a good captain.”

Tennis Australia has been approached for comment on the allegations.

Tomic’s incendiary remarks were in contrast to his performance against Cilic, where he pushed last year’s finalist and came back from 5-2 down in the third set to force a tiebreak.

The divisive Gold Coast talent had the support of the Margaret Court Arena crowd despite his reputation as a part-time tennis player and party boy. Tomic is not scheduled to play men’s doubles, and is likely to leave Melbourne Park following his first-round defeat.