Lleyton Hewitt will return to tennis as playing captain of the Australian Davis Cup team to replace Nick Kyrgios against the United States.

Hewitt, who retired after the Australian Open in January, took over the Australian captaincy at the start of 2016 and is in charge for the first time in the World Group first-round tie at Kooyong starting on Friday.

Kyrgios has been struck down by a virus while also struggling with a back injury which forced him to withdraw from his semi-final in Dubai last week.