The second day of action at the United Cup is underway, with Australia suffering a setback after Ajla Tomljanovic pulled out of the must-win match against Great Britain due to injury.

Tomljanovic will be sidelined with a left knee injury, although she is still a chance of recovering in time to play for Australia in its second tie against Spain on Tuesday.

But amid the drama surrounding Tomljanovic’s injury withdrawal, Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios couldn’t resist reigniting his feud with team co-captain Lleyton Hewitt.

DAY 1 RECAP: Demon downed by No.1 Brit as Aussies fall in early hole

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Taking to social media, Kyrgios responded to a tweet about Tomljanovic claiming he was thrown “under the bus” by Hewitt when he opted out of the United Cup event earlier this week citing injury.

“Mmm I wonder if (co-captain Sam) Stosur will throw her under the bus like our captain did for me ….. ‘hard to prepare when you don’t know what’s going on’,” he posted, complete with two hand over mouth emojis.

Kyrgios has used his time away from the United Cup to clap back at his critics, also retweeting a post from manager Daniel Horsfall suggesting the Australian is a victim of tall poppy syndrome.

Kyrgios withdrew from the United Cup with injury, prompting criticism from Australia’s United Cup co-captain Lleyton Hewitt over a lack of communication.

“I was in the same boat as all the other players yesterday,” Hewitt said.

“I didn’t know any more (than others). It was pretty tough for everyone. It was more probably the lack of communication and these guys not knowing.”

It’s not the first time Kyrgios and Hewitt have failed to see eye-to-eye, after the Davis Cup team captain revealed he was frustrated the nation’s top ranked male tennis star chose money over representing his country last month.

After once being Kyrgios’ mentor, the relationship between Hewitt and the controversial tennis icon has only soured in recent years.

Maddison Inglis will step in to replace Tomljanovic against Harriet Dart, with the 24-year-old rising in prominence earlier this year after a breakout Australian Open campaign.

The local wildcard took down US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in her run to third round, eventually defeated by six-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Kaia Kanepi.

Australia is already vulnerable having gone down 2-0 after Day 1’s results against Great Britain, meaning one more win will seal Group D for the visitors.

Jason Kubler is the other Australian in action on Day 2, facing Daniel Evans in Sydney after Inglis’ match, which is scheduled for 5.30pm.

BRUTAL BLOW FOR CZECH UNDERDOG

There was also an injury blow earlier in the day for the Czech Republic, with Tomas Machac having to retire hurt after rolling his ankle in his match against Frances Tiafoe.

“What a shame, he was putting up a great fight,” Jim Courier said in commentary.

Tiafoe had taken the first set 6-4 but was down a break in the second, trailing 4-2.

Earlier in the day, Petra Kvitova had initially kept Czech Republic in it against the Americans with a 7-6(6), 6-4 win over World No. 3 Jessica Pegula.

Kvitova saved seven set points in the first set of the match on the way to victory, a crucial one given the Americans had already jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two wins on Day 1.

It meant that Tiafoe needed to defeat Machac to guarantee the Group C tie for the Americans, which he did albeit in unfortunate circumstances for his rival.

Elsewhere, Matteo Berrettini defeated Thiago Monteiro 6-4 7-6 to give Italy a 2-1 lead over Brazil.

The other earlier match of Day 2 saw Maria Sakkari defeat Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-3, 6-2 in a dominant display where she won 84 per cent of her first serve points.

The victory also sealed the tie in Group A for Greece.

THIEM EARNS AO WILDCARD

In other news, former world number three Dominic Thiem will feature in the Australian summer of tennis after being handed a wildcard to the Australian Open.

The Austrian, who pushed Novak Djokovic to five sets in the 2020 Australian Open final, was sidelined for nine months with a wrist injury sustained during the 2021 grass-court season.

He has shown encouraging signs on his return to the tour, rising from outside the top 350 to 102 in the second half of this year, including semi-final runs at Gstaad, Gijon and Antwerp.

His rapid ranking rise meant the 29-year-old only narrowly missed directly qualifying for the main draw of the Australian Open, which starts in Melbourne on January 16.

Thiem, a two-time French Open runner-up, won the US Open in 2020. Other wildcards went to American pair Taylor Townsend and Christopher Eubanks, and French players Diane Parry and Luca Van Assche.

DAY 2 SCHEDULE

Sydney, Ken Rosewall Arena

U.S. vs. Czech Republic (Group C):

Petra Kvitova (CZE) def. Jessica Pegula (USA) — 7-6 6-4

Frances Tiafoe (USA) def. Tomas Machac (CZE) — 6-3, 2-4 (retired hurt)

Pegula/Fritz (USA) def. Bouzkova/Lehecka (CZE) — 2-6, 6-3, 10-7

Australia vs. Great Britain (Group D)

Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) vs. Harriet Dart (GBR), 5:30pm.

Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs. Daniel Evans (GBR), to follow

Mixed doubles, TBD (AUS) vs. TBD (GBR), to follow

Perth, RAC Arena

Greece vs. Bulgaria (Group A)

Maria Sakkari (GRE) def. Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) — 6-3, 6-2

Dimitar Kuzmanov (BUL) def. Michail Pervolarakis (GRE) — 6-1, 6-1

France vs. Argentina (Group F)

Caroline Garcia (FRA) vs. Nadia Podoroska (ARG), 5:30pm.

Adrian Mannarino (FRA) vs. Federico Coria (ARG), to follow

Mixed doubles, TBD (FRA) vs. TBD (ARG), 8:30, to follow

Brisbane, Pat Rafter Arena

Italy vs. Brazil (Group E)

Matteo Berrettini (ITA) def. Thiago Monteiro (BRA) — 6-4, 7-6 (7)

Lucia Bronzetti (ITA) vs. Laura Pigossi (BRA) — 6-0, 6-2

Stefani/Matos (BRA) def. Rosatello/Berettini (ITA) — 6-4, 6-7 (4), 10-4

TBD (ITA) vs. TBD (BRA), to follow

Switzerland vs. Kazakhstan (Group B)

Stan Wawrinka (SWI) vs. Alexander Bublik (KAZ), 5:30pm.

Jil Teichmann (SWI) vs. Zhibek Kulambayeva (KAZ), to follow

Mixed doubles, TBD (SWI) vs. TBD (KAZ), to follow

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