Australian tennis legend Rennae Stubbs has voiced her concerns over Lleyton Hewitt's team selections following Australia's Davis Cup semi-final loss to Italy. Hewitt has led the Australian team to the final four for three consecutive years but failed to secure the $4 million prize money and prestigious trophy once again.

Unraveling the Controversy - Hewitt's Loyalty and Team Selections

Stubbs' Doubts on Hewitt's Choices

Rennae Stubbs (third from left) believes Lleyton Hewitt (R) made a wrong call. Hewitt's loyalty to Alex de Minaur and Thanasi Kokkinakis led to their losses against Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini respectively. The decision to play an injured de Minaur against Sinner came under heavy scrutiny, resulting in Australia's ninth consecutive defeat against the World No.1.Many thought Alexei Popyrin could have been a better option against Sinner considering his previous win against the young Aussie. On her podcast this week, Stubbs echoed the same sentiment. "I would have played Popyrin against Berrettini," she said on the 'Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast'. "Having said that [Kokkinakis] had an opportunity to win. He missed a terrible forehand to lose in the third set. But I was thinking maybe even throw Popyrin in against Jannik Sinner. There was no way 'Demon' was beating Sinner, absolutely no chance. Nobody is beating Sinner but I would have thrown in a lightning rod who can hold serve. On an indoor court, Popyrin is probably going to hold serve, even against Jannik."

Hewitt's Loyalty Backfires

Hewitt might have been hesitant to replace de Minaur as it would have meant benching him completely. The match-ups are based on rankings, with the highest-ranked player on each team having to play each other. If Hewitt had gone with Popyrin against Sinner, it would have meant de Minaur couldn't play against Berrettini as he is higher ranked, and Kokkinakis or Jordan Thompson would still have been used in the second rubber. In either case, it might have been a better choice than picking an injured de Minaur against an opponent he is now 0-9 against."It's bloody tough for all the boys," Hewitt said after Australia's 21-year wait for another Davis Cup title. "They put in a lot of effort to give themselves a chance to be here and come so close again. Thanasi left it all out there. Yeah, there's a couple points in it. Berrettini played a fantastic match."

Hewitt's Rips at Organizers

Lleyton Hewitt once again criticized the organizers for the changes made to Davis Cup over the last few years. Kokkinakis felt like they were playing in Italy due to the vocal support Berrettini received, even though the finals were held in Spain."I think there has been some mistakes made in the last few years," Hewitt said in regards to the axing of home-and-away ties. "We'd really like to hopefully host the finals as well. We'd like to get the opportunity to put a bid in for next year to host the finals in Australia. I think we deserve that. I have been working extremely hard with the Federation to be able to give us that opportunity. It's frustrating for these guys to always have to come all the way over to Europe every single year to play in the finals. I know how special it was for me to win Davis Cup Finals in Australia. I think we all know how good a tradition our country has in this competition for well over a hundred years. We'll see where that lands."