"I haven't spoken to him since." Lleyton Hewitt says Bernard Tomic threatened him and his family.

Lleyton Hewitt has sensationally claimed Bernard Tomic physically threatened him and his family and says he’ll never play Davis Cup as long as he’s involved as captain.

Speaking after his Australian Open doubles exit, Hewitt says he’s cut all contact with Tomic following the alleged abuse over the past 18 months.

Hewitt says he tried to help Tomic – who this week criticised his Davis Cup and Open wildcard player selection policy – but believes the 26-year-old former Australian No.1 is now a lost cause.

Hewitt said he’d received multiple threats from Tomic.

“Both (physical and verbal) – blackmail and physical,” Hewitt said on Thursday night.

“The threats that I’ve received for me and my family that I’ve had had for a year and a half now, I don’t think anyone would reach out to a person who speaks like that.

“For me, it was the abuse I copped from him at the end. I drew a line in the sand and I haven’t spoken to him since.

“He won’t play Davis Cup while I have anything to do with it.”

Hewitt said he didn’t feel threatened by Tomic’s abuse but was frustrated after trying to help the world No.88 and one-time No.17.

The Lleyton Hewitt press conference was WILD, y’all. Blackmail, threats, disowning. This country really is a tennis soap opera. #AusOpen

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 17, 2019

Describing him as a “clown”, he said he was disappointed by Tomic’s most recent comments.

“For me, the biggest frustration is that I really went out of my way to help him,” Hewitt said.

“I spent a lot of time with him at a lot of tournaments and tried to get a coaching structure and physical team around him to give him the best opportunity but at the end of the day he kept making the wrong mistakes.

“Deep down, Bernie knows what I’ve done for him … for Bernie to come out and have a go but more to get all of his facts wrong, that’s probably the most disappointing thing.”

After Tomic’s loss in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday night he brought up his grievance with Hewitt in his post-match interview.

“[Thanasi] Kokkinakis, [Nick] Kyrgios, we don’t want to play anymore because he’s ruined it [the Davis Cup]. He’s ruined the system,” Tomic said.

“Like, go away. I thought he’d retired, like, why are you still in tennis? Why do you still play all these doubles tournaments?” he said in regard to Hewitt playing in last year’s Davis Cup tournament.

“He doesn’t put the players first. He doesn’t put Nick first. He doesn’t put Kokkinakis first. He always thinks of himself and it’s not good. You’re not playing any more bro. You’re retired. It’s not good.”

Tomic has also seemingly admitted to threatening Hewitt.  This week the Herald Sun reported that he told the publication “two years ago, I said ‘If he ever tries to talk to me, I’ll knock him out’.”

Australia’s qualifying tie next month in Adelaide is against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Nick Kyrgios is also unlikely to play a role due to his sliding ranking and his attitude.

With players like Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur, John Millman and exciting teen Alexei Popyrin on the rise, Hewitt said he didn’t need players who wouldn’t give their all for their country.

Hewitt said Kyrgios wasn’t lost to the Davis Cup cause but needed to match the cultural standards set by the team and he hadn’t spoken to him about attitude and his controversial comments on social media.

“Nick still has a lot to learn,” he said.

“The biggest thing ‘Rochey’ (Cup coach Tony Roche) I have is to set cultural standards and I feel Nick isn’t meeting those.

“The things we feel like we have to push – all we ask is to commit to the sport, go out there and give 100 per cent every time you step on the court.”

Kyrgios accused Hewitt of playing favourites with an InstagramStory post on Wednesday night that sarcastically asked followers if the retired tennis pro was watching Alex de Minaur or “no one else”.