Kyrgios
Australia's Nick Kyrgios throws his racquet during his third round match against Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych at the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park, Australia, January 22, 2016. Reuters/Jason Reed

Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic, two competitors in Australia’s contingent at Indian Wells, could possibly clash in the quarterfinals round of the tournament, setting up an intriguing matchup that could once and for all settle the score between the two Aussies.

Kyrgios and Tomic both received a first-round bye at Indian Wells, which could see the Aussie youngsters have their first meeting after their Davis Cup feud went public earlier this week. For them to face each other at the quarterfinal round, Kyrgios must win over the likes of Gael Monfils and Andy Murray, while Tomic would have to overcome possible opponents in Milos Raonic and Tomas Berdych.

After Australia lost to the United States in their Davis Cup World Group first round tie this weekend, Tomic and Kyrgios traded shots at each other, mainly because of the latter’s withdrawal from the tournament.

A virus picked up during the Dubai Tennis Championships last month had forced Kyrgios to be sidelined for the Davis Cup tie, but his absence was strongly felt as Australia struggled to pull off a victory over tournament rivals USA. Tomic then accused Kyrgios of faking an illness to avoid playing at Kooyong, insisting that he would lose respect for the Canberran if he competes at Indian Wells.

“I've spoken to him already,” Tomic said, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. “If he plays Indian Wells, then he's definitely lost a little bit of my respect.”

Kyrgios, on the other hand, admitted that he would not take the “heat of the moment” comment personally, although the 20-year-old, who won his first ATP World tour title in Marseille last month, shot back on a tweet captioned, “Just don’t expect me to have your back anytime soon.”

Kyrgios will either open against Korea’s Hyeon Chung or Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas, while Tomic is set to face the winner between USA’s Rajeev Ram and an unknown qualifier.

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