I’m sure I’m not alone in thoroughly enjoying watching an Australian sporting team getting a sound beating.

That was true before their cricket team came to our shores and decided to bring their own DIY materials onto the field, and I don’t see that joy ending any time soon.

As an aside, make sure you watch Crossing the Line on Showmax, which is a superb recap of exactly how that ill-fated tour played out.

The Indians are currently thumping a hapless Ozzie team on their own turf (a number of unwanted records stand out), but let’s focus on the tennis saga that has Australia up in arms at the moment.

With the Australian Open in full swing, a toxic breakdown between Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic has divided the country’s tennis fans.

On Monday night, Tomic launched an extraordinary attack on Hewitt, after crashing out of the Australian Open in straight sets against world number six Marin Cilic.

All of this below was said with a smug grin on his face:

Did you miss Bernard Tomic’s rant about Lleyton Hewitt last night?

Listen to it here! #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/0pB9yxZWay

— SEN 1116 (@1116sen) January 14, 2019

If you’d prefer that in writing, here’s NewsAU with a summary:

Tomic made a series of sensational accusations against Hewitt, including:

— A suggestion Hewitt has been promoting Aussie players in the Davis Cup team that have a link to the management company he has a partial ownership stake in.

— A claim that fellow Aussie stars Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios are also boycotting the team while Hewitt remains captain.

— A claim that the Aussie Cup Davis Cup system has become broken under Hewitt’s leadership; and

— A demand that Hewitt must be replaced by a new captain who is more like former Aussie Davis Cup captain Wally Masur.

He then walked out with a smile, and joked that he wanted reporters to “have fun with that”.

Honestly, what is it with Ozzie tennis players being complete twats?

The Tomic and Hewitt falling out completes a remarkable about-turn from a few years back, when the pair would often talk about how much they liked each other.

Tomic called Hewitt a “true mentor”, and Hewitt said that  “I think I’m probably one of the closer guys that he trusts now”.

Another NewsAU article details exactly how that relationship has unravelled so spectacularly:

…the Tomic family started backing Hewitt in a corner the following year when they fell out with Tennis Australia over funding for Bernard’s younger sister Sara, a fringe professional player.

Despite attempts by Hewitt to save the relationship, Tomic made himself unavailable for Davis Cup selection and split with the management company that also managed Hewitt’s affairs.

This time last year Hewitt declared Tomic was “digging a hole for himself that he may not be able to get out of”…

Having reached a point where he can gain nothing — neither funding or wildcard boosts — from remaining on speaking terms with Tennis Australia, Tomic is free to speak his mind without fear of reprisal — and that is exactly what makes him dangerous to Aussie tennis officials.

Tomic is pretty keen to see the back of Hewitt, as he made abundantly clear in that explosive interview:

“Go away. I thought he’d retired, like, why are you still in tennis,” Tomic said. “Why do you still play all these doubles tournaments?”

…Tomic’s most scandalous accusation was Hewitt has been playing favourites with his selections for his own profit.

His wild claims that Hewitt has been promoting players tied to his own management company have since received widespread condemnation from the Aussie tennis fraternity…

Excuse me for having a good laugh at all of this infighting.

Of course, no mention of dickhead Ozzie players is complete without a look at Nick Kyrgios, who was asked about Tomic’s comments at a press conference yesterday.

Skip ahead to the 25-second mark for some classic Kyrgios:

Sure, you have a right to be tired of the same questions from journalists, but you get paid huge money, and fronting up to the media is part of that job.

Hewitt is set to announce his Davis Cup selections next week, which will no doubt pour flames on an already ugly situation.

Should be fun.

[sources:newsau&newsau]