Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis electrified the Australian Open capturing maiden AO doubles crown last month.
The “Special K’s” won’t be reprising their partnership on the Australian Davis Cup squad.
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Captain Lleyton Hewitt has named No.33 Alex de Minaur, world No.65 Alexei Popyrin, Kokkinakis, John Peers and debutant Luke Saville to represent the Green and Gold against Hungary at the 2022 Davis Cup by Rakuten Qualifiers next month.
Australia will host Hungary March 4-5th on hardcourt at Ken Rosewall Arena in the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre.
🇦🇺TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT🇦🇺📅 4-5 March
🎾 🇦🇺 AUS 🆚 HUN 🇭🇺
📍 Sydney (Australia)#DavisCup #byRakuten pic.twitter.com/oziNVw7Z4B
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) February 4, 2022
“We’re looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd,” Hewitt said. “Alex has had most of his recent success in Sydney, winning the Sydney international a few years back but also some of his best results last month, including quality wins against Berrettini and Humbert.
“Thanasi had a fantastic Australian summer. He really cemented himself as a top 100 player again, winning his first title at home in Adelaide and beating quality players. And then to go on to win the Australian Open doubles, this is going to give him a lot of confidence heading into this tie.
“Popyrin got an opportunity to play a big Davis Cup match in the finals last year. He has a lot of firepower out there, a lot of weapons as well and certainly an option for singles or doubles. John Peers has been a regular in the Davis Cup team for a number of years now, he’s a top 15 doubles player. He won the Sydney Tennis Classic a couple of weeks ago and played exceptionally well with Luke Saville at the ATP Cup last month.”
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve