Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Lleyton Hewitt immediately faced up to his first task as Australia’s new Davis Cup captain, reinstating Nick Kyrgios back into the team after the rebellious 20 year-old was purposely ignored for last month’s semi-final against Britain in Glasgow.

Kyrgios was omitted from the Australian team after his series of ill-disciplined incidents that culminated with the notorious ‘sledging’ of Stan Wawrinka that resulted in a heavy fine and being put on probation with the threat of a 28 days suspension from the ATP World Tour.

Hewitt and Kyrgios have established a close personal relationship both on the main tour and having played together last year in the International Premier Tennis League for the Singapore Slammers.

“Early in my career, I didn’t always have the best image out there either,” Hewitt said soon after his appointment in Melbourne. “So it’s about dealing with that and learning from the mistakes that you’ve made over time and becoming not only a better person off the court but also a better tennis player.

“Nick, I think, is really finding himself at the moment but he has massive up side and I think with the right people around him he can really improve leaps and bounds in the next year or two and hopefully hold up a grand slam trophy.”

Hewitt told Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper that Kyrgios needs to come to terms with his current stature in the game. “He’s got to be who he is to a certain extent,” said the new captain. “I don’t think Nick realizes how powerful his image can be.

“He’s so good for tennis in so many ways, if he can control it to a certain line. He brings so many different people to watch our great sport and he does it not just in Australia but across the globe.

“In some ways, he is like a basketball player trying to play tennis and it’s a great image for our game as long as he does it the right way.”

“And that’s obviously what we’re trying to put in place for him.”

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.