Tomic to lead Australia in Davis Cup

Young-gun Bernard Tomic will lead Australia in their Davis Cup match-up against China in Beijing this weekend, with long-time team leader Lleyton Hewitt left out of the opening singles matches.

Tomic, who reached this year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals, will be Australia’s number one player in the Asia-Oceania zone qualifying tie against China while debutant Marinko Matosevic, ranked 141, has beaten Hewitt for second spot.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Hewitt, who made his Davis Cup debut in 1999, is Australia’s most successful Davis Cup player with a 36-9 record in singles and 8-3 record in doubles.

Hewitt, who will be playing in his 30^th Davis Cup tie against the Chinese at the Beijing International Tennis Centre in the July 8-10 match, with partner Chris Guccione in Saturday’s doubles match.

Hewitt has been passed by Tomic in the ATP rankings after the teenager’s fine run at Wimbledon, where he was beaten by eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

Only Boris Becker, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg reached the Wimbledon last eight at a younger age than 18-year-old Tomic. Tomic is seen as a future Grand Slam champion.

Tomic slashed his ranking from 158 to a current 71, while former world number one Hewitt has slumped to 173.

Tomic, who has played one Davis Cup tie winning both his singles matches against Taiwan in Melbourne last year, believes he can follow in Hewitt’s footsteps and become the backbone of the Australian team.