Retired Hewitt on standby as Kyrgios out of Davis clash

MELBOURNE — Veteran Lleyton Hewitt is on standby to break his short-lived retirement if Australia needs its new captain against the United States in this weekend’s Davis Cup World Group tie in Melbourne. World No. 27 Nick Kyrgios withdrew before Thursday’s draw with a virus and back trouble, with Hewitt, in charge as Australia captain for the first time, nominated as his replacement. But Hewitt, 35, who was thought to have played his last competitive match at the Australian Open in January, did not name himself in Friday’s singles or Saturday’s pivotal doubles rubbers, instead preferring to use 77th-ranked Sam Groth. Groth will open the tie on grass at Kooyong in Melbourne against big-serving American John Isner, ranked 11, while Australia’s top-ranked Bernard Tomic faces world No. 24 Jack Sock in Friday’s singles. Groth was nominated to partner doubles specialist John Peers in Saturday’s showdown against multiple Grand Slam-winners Bob and Mike Bryan. But that decision can be changed up until an hour before the pivotal rubber, leaving open the possibility that Hewitt could take his place in the doubles. “We’ll just see how it pans out,” Hewitt said at the draw. “We’ve got to put our best options forward every single day and we will have a look at it after each day’s play and see how Sam plays and pulls up after his singles.” USA team captain Jim Courier said he was not surprised by the Australian team change. If Hewitt does take part he will be the first playing captain for Australia since Norman Brookes in 1919. Djokovic, Murray eye showdown Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray can set up a Davis Cup quarterfinal blockbuster if they successfully pilot Serbia and defending champion Great Britain through the first round. However, the world’s top two players will go into their home clashes against Kazakhstan and Japan respectively this weekend with question marks over their fitness and match sharpness. Svitolina heads to quarters in Malaysia Second seed Elina Svitolina advanced to the quarterfinals of the Malaysian Open Thursday with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 win over Japan’s Risa Ozaki. The 21-year-old Ukrainian will square off against Slovakian Kristina Kucova Friday. Kai-Chen Chang was sent home packing after being dispatched by Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3. The 25-year-old Taiwanese player had a dream start to the competition when she knocked out top seed Roberta Vinci from Italy in the first round Tuesday. Buyukakcay will next meet sixth seed Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, who cruised to the next round after trashing Kurumi Nara from Japan 6-1, 6-2 Wednesday. In other second round matches Thursday, Naomi Broady from Britain beat China’s Zhaoxuan Yang 6-4, 6-3, while Lin Zhu from China defeated Zarina Diyas from Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-2. — Agencies