MELBOURNE — Australia's new Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt has backed the country's bad boy of tennis Nick Kyrgios to "control" the image he projects and break through for a grand slam trophy in the next year or two.
Former world number one Hewitt was named caretaker captain Wally Masur's successor on Tuesday and one of his most delicate tasks will be managing Kyrgios and his team mate Bernard Tomic, both of whom have strained relations with the sport's national governing body and the public.
Each missed Davis Cup ties this season due to disciplinary problems and Kyrgios was given a suspended six-month ban for a lewd remark he made to two-times grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka during a match in Montreal.