Thanasi Kokkinakis has rubbished rumours that Nick Kyrgios was "snubbed" by Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, claiming instead that the 26-year-old ruled himself out of the squad.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Hewitt last week named his team for Australia's upcoming Davis Cup qualifier against Hungary at the beginning of March.
Kokkinakis was rewarded for his victories in the Australian Open doubles and in the Adelaide International singles with a first call-up in more than six years.
Doubles specialist Luke Saville was also handed a call-up for the first time, but Kyrgios was not included in the squad despite winning in Melbourne as Kokkinakis' partner.
Some outlets reporting the news took it to mean Kyrgios had been "snubbed" by skipper Hewitt, with whom he has had a turbulent relationship in the past.
But Kokkinakis has denied those claims, and revealed that it was the player himself who turned down the chance to play.
"He definitely was asked to play," Kokkinakis said. "He has a few things on so he wasn't able to play but he definitely didn't get snubbed or anything – I saw those headlines and he didn't get snubbed at all. Hopefully we can team up again in the future.
"I think Nick has shown he always loves playing for Australia. I'm not sure exactly what he has on, but he obviously has something pretty important.
"He's obviously in our strongest team. He was definitely asked, and I think he and Lleyton have a good relationship, but he just wasn't available for this time."
Meanwhile, Kokkinakis will be in contention to play both singles and doubles tennis when his team meets their Hungarian opponents next month.
When he announced his squad, Hewitt said: "Thanasi had a fantastic Australian summer.
"He really cemented himself as a top 100 player again, winning his first title at home in Adelaide and beating quality players.
"And then to go on to win the Australian Open doubles, this is going to give him a lot of confidence heading into this tie."
Kokkinakis is joined in the squad by Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin, as well as doubles specialists Saville and John Peers.
Matt Ebden and Max Purcell, who lost against Kokkinakis and Kyrgios in the Australian Open doubles final, were overlooked for a place in the side, while James Duckworth was out of contention after undergoing hip surgery.
