Sydney will host its first David Cup tie since 2011 when Australia plays Slovakia for a spot in the 2017 World Group next month.

The match-up will be played on a purpose-built grass court at Ken Rosewall Arena in Homebush from 16-18 September.

Australia’s top ranked males Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic are expected to spearhead the charge under the captaincy of Lleyton Hewitt.

Kyrgios looks set to go into the tie in good form having claimed his second ATP title at last week’s Atlanta Open, while Tomic was an early casualty in Mexico this week.

Both players, who are currently ranked 16th and 20th in the world respectively, will be hoping for strong performances at the US Open which starts on 29 August.

The pair were controversial omissions from the Australian team that competed at the Rio Olympics after they chose not to make themselves available but Lleyton Hewitt defended their record.

“Nick is a different kind of kid and he is still finding his feet, but the biggest thing is we have a mutual respect for each other,” Hewitt said.

“I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to have him in my team.

“This is a really important tie for us and Nick is a massive part of our ¬future in Australian tennis, but hopefully winning the Davis Cup one day as well.

“Hopefully he can have a really good run throughout the US Open because the Davis Cup tie is straight after that.

“There are a lot of good things as well and he and Bernie do a lot of stuff at Tennis Australia with the kids’ clinics, Hot Shots and our younger academy players.”

Team nominations for Australia and Slovakia will be announced 10 days out from the tie.

Three-day tickets for the tie are now available to the general public via Ticketek or by calling 132 849.