Lleyton Hewitt claimed Bernard Tomic "blackmailed" him over playing in the Davis Cup.getty images
Lleyton Hewitt “declared Bernard Tomic attempted to blackmail him and made physical threats against him and his family," with Hewitt alleging that Tomic said he would "refuse to play Davis Cup under his captaincy," according to Barrett & Niall of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Responding to Tomic's attack on him on Monday night, Hewitt said that he had "fallen out" with the 26-year-old over what the former world No.1 described as "blackmail threats and physical (threats)." Hewitt: “From me it was probably the abuse I copped. In the end I drew a line in the sand. He won’t play Davis Cup while I have anything to do with it.” Asked to specify the nature of the blackmail, Hewitt said that Tomic “had threatened not to play Davis Cup.” He said that the threats had been “made against his family as well as him” (SMH, 1/18). In London, Simon Briggs reported the “animosity between these two men has dominated the front and back pages” at the Australian Open all week. So when Hewitt came into the interview room on Wednesday after "suffering a doubles defeat," there was "plenty of subject matter to get stuck into.” Hewitt: “We’re trying to set cultural standards for the Davis Cup and representing Australia, and he hasn’t been close to those in the last couple of years. Since then I haven’t had anything to do with Bernie.” Hewitt “denied that he benefited financially from any of his tennis decisions," added that he viewed the alleged threats as "empty," and explained that Tomic -- a former prodigy who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals as an 18-year-old, but has now "slipped to No. 88 in the world" -- was "no longer able to contact him." Hewitt: “Yeah, I don’t think he has my number hopefully anymore.” One source of the “ill-feeling in Australian men’s tennis is Hewitt’s closeness to the new national No. 1 Alex De Minaur.” Nick Kyrgios also “made a sarcastic comment about this on Wednesday, suggesting on Twitter that Hewitt doesn’t watch anybody else’s matches” (London TELEGRAPH, 1/18). REUTERS' Ian Ransom reported that Tomic was not immediately able to contact for comment. Tennis Australia also “declined to comment on Hewitt’s allegations.” A spokesperson said that the governing body was “unable to contact Tomic and did not know if the player was still in Melbourne” (REUTERS, 1/17).
