Pat Rafter will not consider Bernard Tomic for Australia's opening Davis Cup tie in 2013, due to concerns over the young star's on and off-court behaviour.
Australia's Davis Cup captain has taken the decision two months ahead of his side's opening match in the new tournament calendar against Taiwan in February.
Tomic, 20, has fallen foul of Tennis Australia on numerous occasions over the last 18 months since reaching the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2011.
Rafter himself labelled Tomic's performance in losing to Andy Roddick in the second round of this year's US Open as "disgraceful".
It had been hoped such a stern warning would lead to an increased dedication to the sport but there have been few signs of this.
In October, Tomic was questioned by police after a fight with a friend in a spa and this weekend was seen driving a yellow ferrari with the number plate SINCITY.
"Pat has made the decision early that for the first tie next year Bernard will not be selected," Craig Tiley, TA's director of tennis told the Age.
"As a team, we just felt that part of the commitment that we make to athletes and athletes make to the sport is they always put 100 per cent commitment and effort in competing for their country."
Marinko Matosevic fell foul of Rafter last year when the grand slam winner felt the Melbourne player did not give full effort in a dead rubber for Australia in April and did not play Davis Cup again for the rest of the year.
Marinko has since bounced back and is currently rated at a career-high 47 in the world, four places above Tomic.
Now Rafter has shown he will treat all players the same, regardless of their status and ability.
''I think you can draw a few parallels with Marinko," Tiley said.
"It's very much along those lines: it's not one specific incident, just an aggregation of his approach to the game.
"We just felt that this decision should provide additional motivation every time (Tomic) walks on the court, to be a total professional in his approach to not only his preparation but competing in the match and post-match.
"And it would be no different if he was the number one player in Australia or the number 100 player, or a junior.''
Veteran Davis Cup campaigner Lleyton Hewitt has responded saying Tomic still has a lot to learn.
"Obviously he is learning, it is a learning phase for him at the moment," Hewitt told Channel Seven.
Tags: sport, tennis, australia, robina-4226, qld First posted December 06, 2012 08:58:07
No comments:
Post a Comment