Lleyton Hewitt is at the centre of another feud after Max Purcell accused the former world No.1 of not having the courage to tell him he had missed out on an Australian Open wildcard.
“Then, at like 11pm, I messaged Wally [Masur, Tennis Australia performance director] saying, ‘Mate, I’ve got three hours to pull out of [the Sydney Tennis Classic], otherwise I’ll be stuck playing Sydney instead of quallies – what’s going on?’ Fellow Australians Alex Bolt, Aleks Vukic, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Chris O’Connell – who are all ranked higher than Purcell – received main-draw wildcards.Purcell believes the heart of the dispute is his “smart-arse” demeanour, but also said he has never been one of Hewitt’s “boys”.
“I am No.176 in the world, so I should be in qualifying, anyway,” he said. “So, I’m kind of taking it like that.
samphillips06 Hewitt should just move on, he is part of the problem.
samphillips06 LOL, why do all the Australian players hate each other? I’ve long felt there’s something a bit rotten at the heart of tennis in this country.