Hewitt, the Davis Cup captain, has chosen a Kooyong hardcourt for Australia's first-round tie against the Czech Republic in February, but whether Kokkinakis will be available – or even vaguely ready for selection – after being limited to just one match in 2016 by shoulder and pectoral injuries remains unclear. And doubtful.

"He is still probably touch-and-go for the Aussie summer, and it's going to be a tough road for him early on. I don't think we can come back and expect him to pick up where he left off," said Hewitt of the talented 20-year-old, who has targeted the Brisbane International in the first week of January for his ATP return.

"But he's got so much talent. He's such a good kid. He's the perfect person to hopefully bring other juniors up with him as well ... I'm certainly not putting any pressure on him to be up there within six months to a year. I think it's going to be a longer-term process."

Hewitt's main injury issues during his lengthy career mostly related to his hips and feet. Kokkinakis has had serious back and shoulder problems, and yet still managed to rise to 69th in the world as an 18-year-old sharing the limelight with Kyrgios. But, mostly, in a good way.

"The shoulder's such a big part," said Hewitt. "Touch wood, I never really had any real shoulder issues, but you see some of those guys and it is tough to come back from. Pat [Rafter] obviously had a lot of shoulder problems and it is a tough injury. I think more so as well for [Kokkinakis] because he missed so much tennis and he probably thought it was going to be maybe a three, four-month injury and it's turned into a whole year now."

Except for one match. A first-round loss at the Rio Olympics, a tournament Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic skipped. Kyrgios and Kokkinakis were once bracketed together as the Special Ks: one is now the world No.13, the other, younger one not ranked at all. "When I watched them both play about four years ago, I thought Thanasi might have a slightly better all-round game, but I obviously was slightly underestimating Nick and his brilliance there," Newcombe admits.

"I think that if Thanasi's fit and healthy, he's not gonna break through as quickly as Nick. He doesn't have quite the dynamic sort of stuff. But my understanding, and what I'm told, is that he's very, very keen to learn and he's absorbing stuff. He's 20 now, and given that he stays fit, I would expect him at 23, 24 to be breaking well into the top 50 and heading into the top 20, because the talent's there."

So, Hewitt's tale of the summer? "Hopefully we have a couple of Aussies in the second week of the Aussie Open. That would be a good story."

Newk's: "I don't know! I'd like it to be Sam Stosur winning a lot of matches, that would be great. I'd like to see Dasha [Gavrilova] do really well. And I think it'd be great if we saw Thanasi fit and survive through the summer, because he'll be just raring to go. I'd love to see him have a great year next year."