Melbourne, Jan 22 (DPA) Local teenager Bernard Tomic has been called on the carpet by Australian Open officials after he complained that late-night scheduling was behind his second round loss to Croat Marin Cilic.
But besides a ticking-off from tournament director Craig Tiley, the young hope of the post-Lleyton Hewitt generation could also find his Davis Cup future in serious strife.
Both the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) are miffed after Tomic complained that playing in a showcase match that finished at 2 am was unfair to him.
Tomic called tournament scheduling “ridiculous.”
“I can’t see after 1, 2 (in the morning),” he argued. “For a 17-year-old to go out and play, it’s difficult. If I’d have played during the day, which I requested, it could have been all changed. I think I should have won.”
Tiley, however, had a different view. “This needs to be a learning experience for him. If there doesn’t become a change in his behaviour, it becomes extremely hard for him to excel at the top echelons of the sport,” he told local media.
“There’s going to be players who spend their whole professional careers never playing on Rod Laver, so they’re all fighting to get that prime-time opportunity,” Tiley countered.
The two-time junior Grand Slam winner could find himself out of Davis Cup selection, a process not helped by his ongoing feud with Hewitt over a perceived slight at Wimbledon last summer.
Hewitt won’t talk about the matter but the Tomic camp, led by his volatile Croatian father, John, has been trying to mend fences for months.
Number 289 Tomic has been a lightning rod for trouble in tennis.
His federation funding was suspended three years ago for a lack of effort on court, and he copped a one-month ITF ban in 2009 for walking off court in a junior match on the orders of his father sitting at the stands.
But his troubles with Hewitt could seal his future Davis Cup fate.
“Anyone ranked 300 in the world can’t expect to be playing Davis Cup,” two-time Grand Slam winner Hewitt had said.
rounak