Davis Cup captain Wally Masur has endorsed Nick Kyrgios as the new leader of Australia's hopes of becoming a force in the international teams competition, but says he won't let the teenager risk more injury in the first tie of the year.
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Kyrgios is set to fly to the Czech Republic on Friday to link up with the Australian Davis Cup camp as the Canberra junior prepares for his first match since he surged into the Australian Open quarter-finals.
He will shoulder the expectation of living up to his No. 1 Australian ranking and have to step up to fill the shoes of Lleyton Hewitt as the 34-year-old gets a lighter workload next week.
Former world No. 1 Hewitt will likely assume the role as a doubles specialist, opening the door for a new generation to take charge, led by Kyrgios, Bernard Tomic and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
"If everyone is there fit and healthy, you look at what Nick and Bernie have done in the Australian summer, they've got their hands up to play singles and Lleyton has a strong position in doubles," Masur said.
"We're in a really exciting position. I'm an optimist, I've spoken to Nick and he feels pretty positive.
"Nick's our No. 1 player in terms of rankings. I see him as being really crucial to this tie. But he knows with the injuries he's had, he can't take risks. If he prepares pain free, we'll be in good shape."
Masur left Sydney on Wednesday night to fly to Prague to lay the foundations for the team's preparations.
He will be joined by Hewitt, Kyrgios, Tomic and Sam Groth in the team while Kokkinakis and Alex Bolt are travelling with the team as hitting partners for experience.
Kyrgios has been eased back on to the court at the AIS in Canberra after scans showed bone stress in his back after his successful Australian Open campaign.
The 19-year-old played through pain to get into the quarter-finals against Andy Murray, becoming the first teenager to make two grand slam quarter-finals since Roger Federer.
But his rise was put on ice when scans showed the bone stress, forcing him to take a complete rest from tennis to ensure the injury did not develop into stress fractures.
He is ranked No. 37 in the world and the Davis Cup tie in Ostrava from March 6-8 will give Kyrgios a chance to restart his year before setting his sights on the French Open and Wimbledon.
Kyrgios has been training under coach Todd Larkham in Canberra for the past month.
Masur has been keeping a close eye on his progress and delayed Kyrgios' travel to give him more time to prepare in the capital.
"You can't get away from the fact that you'd like the guys to have some tournament tennis under their belts, but it's a combination of not overdoing it and being prepared," Masur said.
"Nick played remarkably well with injury. Can he perform on the big stage? We know he can, but he's a kid. It's going to be tough. We know what Nick's capable of, but it's not a fait accompli.
"He hasn't had the preparation, but he's worked hard to give him the best chance to do well."
Hewitt, whose career is winding down after almost 20 years, predicted Kyrgios and Tomic could lead Australia back to the success of the late 1990s and early 2000s when he teamed up with Pat Rafter, Mark Philippoussis and doubles stars Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge.
If Australia beats the Czech Republic, it would qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time since 2006.
"[Former captain] Pat Rafter had a bit of a tough slog ... it would have been nice for him to be with the team for a few more years after working hard to get the team back to the world group," Masur said.
"Lleyton took on too much for such a long time, you can't expect that of him any more. We've got Nick and Bernie who have had some tremendous success already, then Thanasi knocking on the door and Sam Groth having the best form of his career.
"It's a really good situation we've got going on at the moment, it's the scenario we'd like."
