Bernard Tomic has insisted it was his decision not to play Davis Cup and vowed to become the best player "to play this game".
Tennis Australia revealed yesterday that Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter had dropped the Gold Coast star due to his behaviour on and off the court.
Tomic rebuffed this claim insisting it was his decision not to play against Taiwan in February.
"I was never meant to play that tie," Tomic said.
"I'm going to use that time to train to prepare for tournaments in America.
"I spoke to Pat and told him I would miss the first one and maybe the second one ... I was never meant to play, I told Pat that."
Tomic was told to "knuckle down" by Sam Stosur and he admitted taking this advice on board.
"I'm young and I'm learning. You get to a point where you need to stop and I think it's a good bit of advice,'' said Tomic.
"I am working really hard and trying to push myself to become the best tennis player I can be.
"I've had a slippery slope the last year.
"It's changing me and I'll prove that I'm going to be the best ever player one day to play this game.''
Tomic has received support from former Davis Cup winner Paul McNamee who believes TA is risking alienating him, saying he could go the same way as Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokic.
"The most disappointing thing from my perspective is the public way (TA) have gone about things. To my way of thinking, that approach isn't helpful for either part, but particularly so for Bernard," McNamee told The Australian.
"The whole timing of it seems strange to me, too. We are right on the brink of a new Australian summer, but the actual Davis Cup tie is still a couple of months away. I mean, why now? And what do they actually hope this will achieve other than ostracising Bernard further and tarnishing a kid's name.
"He is 20. Surely there is a better way, but (TA) don't seem to have any other approach ... I believe they have really hurt our Davis Cup team at a time when we aren't exactly enjoying a huge amount of success.
"Let's not kid ourselves, Bernard is our best player and is our best talent by some margin.
"If we are looking at Davis Cup performances, Bernard has actually won his match on the opening day of each of our last two major ties. He has done his job there.
"No one is denying he has had his issues, but surely we can find a way to better nurture him and support his development as both a player and a man than just cutting him completely. To me, that is a flawed strategy.
"It didn't work with Dokic. It didn't work with Philippoussis. It won't work here."
Tags: sport, tennis, robina-4226, qld, australia First posted December 07, 2012 07:41:48
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