Lleyton Hewitt, who was defeated by Samuel Groth in the first round of Brisbane, says that younger Aussie players are progressing well, particularly on the men's side.
"Now they're playing really well at the moment obviously," the 33-year-old former No. 1 said. "It's been good, because obviously Nick [Kyrgios] has taken a lot of the spotlight. And now Thanasi [Kokkinakis], we've all known was going to break through at some stage. That was a really good win for him yesterday. And James Ducksworth, I like him. He's a hard worker, and I'm really glad—to beat a guy like [Gilles] Simon, that's a quality win.
"Johnny Millman, he's a battler. He's nearly given up a couple times, so that's great for him to get an opportunity against Roger Federer [on Thursday]. Think that's about it at the moment. It's good."
Kokkinakis defeated Julien Bennteau in the first round of Brisbane. Hewitt also likes the level being shown by two more familiar names.
"Obviously Sam [Groth] is a unique one because he's a later developer, but he also had his time away from the game through injury as well…Bernard Tomic, he and I had a great hit the other day. Hit for a couple hours and both hit the ball really well. I watched most of his match last night [to beat Sam Querrey]. Thought he played really well. Bernie has been serving a lot better, I think, since he came back from his hip surgeries, which helps his game a lot. He is getting a lot of cheap points because he reads the play so well. On return of serve he makes a lot of balls, so he puts you under pressure that way. If he's able to hold serve, then he's tough.”