Bernard Tomic saved his best serve for his own team-mate Nick Kyrgios as Australia crashed out of the Davis Cup with his loss to American John Isner.  Tomic fell to Isner in the first of the reverse singles 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), unable to peg back a slow start on the Kooyong grass. The result gave the United States an unassailable lead in their World Group first-round tie and a berth in the quarter-finals.  Tomic barely raised a whimper in the opening two sets and fired a salve at absent team-mate Kyrgios during a changeover. While he has having his wrist strapped during the second set, Tomic was heard by courtside microphones muttering to Australian team captain Lleyton Hewitt: “Nick’s sitting down in Canberra. Bullshit he’s sick. Two times Nick’s done it”.  Related: Lleyton Hewitt comeback ends in five-set Davis Cup loss to USA  Tomic didn’t back away from his comments at the post-match press conference, questioning how Kyrgios could be fit to play in this week’s ATP tournament in Indian Wells, California. The Australian No1 said a similar situation happened last February when Kyrgios withdrew from the Davis Cup against the Czech Republic.  “He didn’t come to Czech and had stress fractures and somehow played Indian Wells and felt good,” Tomic said. “He said he’s ‘still sick but I’m going to be better tomorrow’ – so it’s just weird for me. If he plays Indian Wells, then he’s definitely lost a little bit of my respect.”  Tomic said he spoke to Kyrgios after the match and the pair still had a good relationship. “We’re pretty open with each other and that’s a good thing,” he said. “He’s a good guy; he’s got his own personality and I have mine.”  As Tomic was questioning Kyrgios’s commitment to the competition on Sunday, his absent team-mate was at home in Canberra questioning the credentials of an American journalist who urged Hewitt not to play himself if Australia’s first-round tie with the USA went to a deciding fifth rubber.  Kyrgios defended his first-year Cup captain on Twitter: “Ben Rothenberg could be the worst writer to exist. Sit the fk down mate”. The 20-year-old’s outburst comes less than a fortnight after the expiration of his six-month suspended ban for sledging French Open champion Stan Wawrinka at last year’s Montreal Masters.  Hewitt said he didn’t doubt that Kyrgios was ill and he was ruled out by team’s medical staff. “Nick came down here and gave everything he had to try to be available and there’s absolutely no doubt he was sick,” Hewitt said before adding that Tomic’s comments came in the heat of the moment and in frustration about his own injury.  Hewitt also showed his support for Tomic. “Bernie’s come here and he wasn’t 100% and he hasn’t been for the last few weeks and he came out and gave absolutely 100 per cent in his matches here and did exactly what I asked him to do ever since he stepped off the plane,” Hewitt said. “For me, both boys did exactly what I asked them to do.”  While Tomic has built an impressive 16-4 record in Davis Cup, Kyrgios hasn’t won a single point for Australia over the past two years. He missed last year’s first-round win over the Czech Republic with a virus and was dropped for the reverse singles against Kazakhstan after losing to lowly-ranked Aleksandr Nedovyesov on day one in Darwin.  Kyrgios was eventually omitted from the semi-final against Great Britain in Glasgow following a turbulent month in the US punctuated by his unsavoury sledging of French Open champion Stan Wawrinka.  Tomic finally found some form in the third set against Isner and after some impressive serving converted on his fifth set point. The pair then went toe to toe in the fourth before the world No11 prevailed.  Hewitt, in his first tie as team captain, did his best to try and lift the energy level of his No1 but Tomic didn’t respond until the third set.  Early on Tomic had no answer to Isner’s big serving, with the American winning four service games to love in the first set. He blasted one serve at 253km/hr – the third-fastest ever recorded.  The second set was a similar story when Isner broke him at 3-3 after holding four break points. It was a vastly different showing by Tomic to his opening singles win on Friday over American No2 Jack Sock. That result kept the home side in the hunt at 1-1 after Isner earlier trounced Sam Groth.  Hewitt came out of retirement to partner doubles specialist and Davis Cup debutant John Peers in Saturday’s doubles. The new duo pushed doubles greats brothers Mike and Bob Bryan to five sets before the Americans got the win to take a 2-1 lead.  After reaching the semi-finals in 2015, Australia had high hopes this year but a shoulder injury to Thanasi Kokkinakis and then illness ruled Kyrgios out of tie cruelled their chances.  It’s the first time since 1979 that the United States have beaten Australia on grass and their first win in the great rivalry on any surface since 1997. The Americans will now host either Croatia or Belgium in the quarter-finals.
Trash talking from Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios has overshadowed Australia’s premature exit from the Davis Cup for another year