Two weeks after declaring he lacked any dedication to tennis, Nick Kyrgios has pledged to fire up for Australia’s bid to reach the Davis Cup final.
Australia play Belgium in the semi-final in Brussels this weekend, looking to secure their first trip to the decider since their 2003 win over Spain.
An injury-hampered Kyrgios bowed out of the opening round of the U.S. Open with an assortment of fines, a smashed racket and a tantrum, while burnishing his reputation as the tour’s most talented slacker.
“I’m not dedicated to the game at all,” he told reporters at Flushing Meadows, describing an off-court regimen of milkshakes, ice creams and walk-up basketball games.
“There are players out there that are more dedicated, that want to get better, that strive to get better every day, the one-percenters. I’m not that guy.”
Following on from his admissions of video game marathons at a previous tournament, it was another confessional to elicit groans back home where exasperated fans still hope the 22-year-old can knuckle down.
In Davis Cup, they can at least be confident of something approaching a full-blooded performance from Kyrgios, who loves the team aspect of the competition and played a leading role in Australia’s quarter-final victory over the United States in April.
Kyrgios’s commitment to the tournament has grown in importance since Bernard Tomic, the country’s other half-hearted talent, has crashed out of the top 100 through a combination of missing tournaments and not training very hard.
“Davis Cup has done wonders for me this year,” Kyrgios said.
“It’s really made me find that love again for just being with the guys and having some fun, knowing that tennis isn’t all bad, knowing that you can have some fun with it.”
Kyrgios will spearhead Australia’s charge against a strong Belgium team featuring world number 12 David Goffin.
The last time Australia reached the final, Lleyton Hewitt, the current team captain, was in his prime and fittingly, he will oversee the country’s best chance of adding to its 28 titles in over a decade.
Former world number one Hewitt, a revered Davis Cup servant in Australia, has been credited for bringing out the best in Kyrgios.
“’Rusty’ (Hewitt) has helped me a lot,” said Kyrgios.
“I think he’s the best captain we’ve ever had. I know that everyone on our team would run through a brick wall for him.
“To take home the trophy would be probably a dream come true for me.”

French skipper warns of ‘dangerous’ Serbia
France captain Yannick Noah has warned against under-estimating a Serbia team short of its top stars in this weekend’s Davis Cup semi-final. France, seeking a 10th Davis Cup title but first in 16 years, are strong favourites to prevail in Lille to secure a final against either Belgium or Australia. That is largely because the Serbs must make do without former world number one and 12-time Grand slam winner Novak Djokovic, Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic. But Noah said: “Even if Serbia doesn’t have its highest ranked players they’ve got nothing to lose and so they can prove very dangerous.
“There will be difficult matches, lost sets, I hope the least possible number of matches lost. The aim is to win three points and that’s never easy,” added the 1983 French Open winner. “It’s up to us to pull off a feat which the public should be aware is not just a formality, we are not in Lille to play an exhibition match.”
The hosts are led by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (18th in the ATP rankings) and Lucas Pouille (22nd) in the singles, and Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the doubles. Noah’s reserve is Adrian Mannarino, who was called up to replace injured Gael Monfils. Noah’s opposite number Nenad Zimonjic lines up world number 80 Dusan Lajovic, Laslo Djere, Filip Krajinovic and himself in the doubles.
Serbia, featuring Zimonjic and the absent Djokovic and Troicki, won their sole Davis Cup title in 2010, beating France in Belgrade 3-2.