Lleyton Hewitt says he would welcome the chance to play Davis Cup alongside Bernard Tomic, provided the teenager's form warrants a spot.
The former world No.1 has re-affirmed his desire to lead Australia back to the top tier of international tennis, no matter who is part of new captain Pat Rafter's team.
And yes, that does include the man touted as his heir apparent.
"The thing about Davis Cup is I want the best team I can possibly have. I don't really want to finish my Davis Cup career playing in zonal ties," Hewitt said.
"There's hasn't been a lot of issues between Bernard and myself for a long time now."
"There was a good chance I was going to play alongside Bernard straight after the Aussie Open last year I played that tie, but I had surgery."
"Bernard's got to try and get the No.2 position. We still have seven or eight months before the next tie. If Bernard's good enough then he'll step in."
While Australia will spend 2011 in the tennis wilderness following their shock 3-2 loss to Belgium in Cairns, Hewitt believes the presence of good mate Rafter and coach Tony Roche can have the desired effect.
"I think having Rafter and Rochey in there is a good thing," he said.
"It was a shame I got injured because I feel obviously that I could have beaten (Olivier) Rochus on that last day in Cairns - if things fell that way we would have been in the Davis Cup."
For all the discussion on the Davis Cup, the two-time Grand Slam champion has set his sights on a bumper 2011 after an injury-plagued 2010 season cut short by a wrist injury.
A strong recovery coinciding with the return of Roche as coach and the recent birth of daughter Ava has Hewitt in buoyant spirits for the summer ahead.
"This time of year is always enjoyable, but it's bloody hard work as well being on the practice court with Rochey and doing a lot of fitness training at the same time. It's sort of the only chance you get for a proper block of pre-season during the year," he said.
"Rochey's always been an important part of my life both on and off the court - we've always got along extremely well, I respect what he's got to say always and he's one of the greatest coaches out there."
Hewitt was speaking at a launch of the AAMI Classic at Kooyong, an event he has chosen to play in preference to the Sydney International - a tournament he has won four times.
"I was always going to play the Hopman Cup and have enjoyed playing there the last few years - Sydney/Kooyong was a tough decision absolutely," he said.
"This time it's about trying something different because of not playing matches towards the end of this year, one of the main reasons was I'm definitely guaranteed at least three matches, if not four in both tournaments."
"I spoke to Rochey months ago about playing this event ahead of the Australian Open and we both felt it was the right choice."
The eight-man field for the January 12-15 tournament has been confirmed with Austrian Jurgen Melzer and Russia's Nikolay Davydenko joining Hewitt, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Fernando Verdasco, Gael Monfils, Tomas Berdych and Mikhail Youzhny.