Tomic says he’s lost respect for Kyrgios

Bernard Tomic says he’ll lose respect for his Davis Cup teammate Nick Kyrgios if he plays the next ATP tour event after pulling out of the tie against the United States.

Tomic said he played with a wrist injury and questioned the legitimacy of the virus that ruled out Kyrgios if he was able to play so soon after.

He said his teammate told him he was planning to play in Indian Wells, California, this week.

The Australian No.1 said a similar situation happened last February when Kyrgios withdrew from the Davis Cup against the Czech Republic.

“He didn’t come to Czech and had stress fractures and somehow played Indian Wells and felt good,” Tomic said at the post-match press conference.

“Now it’s going to be funny for me to see whether he plays.

“If he plays Indian Wells, then he’s definitely lost a little bit of my respect.”

Tomic said he would have pulled out of any other tournament because of his wrist problem but wanted to do all he could to help Australia win the World Group first-round tie.

“In a situation where it wasn’t Davis Cup, I would have pulled out and not played with the pain I was playing with,” Tomic said.

During his loss to American John Isner, Tomic was heard by courtside microphones during a changeover.

“Nick’s sitting down in Canberra. Bulls**t he’s sick,” Tomic was heard muttering to team captain Lleyton Hewitt. Two times Nick’s done it.”

Hewitt said he didn’t doubt that Kyrgios was ill and he was ruled out by team’s medical staff.

“Nick came down here and gave everything he had to try to be available and there’s no doubt he was sick,” Hewitt said.

He said Tomic’s comments came in the heat of the moment and in frustration about his own injury.

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!