By Michael Chammas
- Tomic and Stosur crash out of Wimbledon
- Nick Kyrgios storms into fourth round
- Kyrgios warned over headband
Tennis Australia has hit back at Bernard Tomic's extraordinary overnight comments, describing his attack on Pat Rafter and TA officials as "misinformed, untrue and disappointing".
"TA remains committed to implementing the best culture possible, with a philosophy of opportunity, not entitlement," read a message posted from TA's Twitter account on Saturday morning.
Tomic had vowed to open up about his simmering war with Tennis Australia when his Wimbledon campaign came to an end, and within an hour of his third-round exit kept his promise in an extraordinary press conference.
The 22-year-old vented almost uninterrupted for five minutes, taking aim at Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley and president Stephen Healy, while also describing Rafter as a "good actor" and a "mask".
Angry young man ... Bernard Tomic unleashed a barrage of criticism against Tennis Australia and Pat Rafter in a press conference after his third-round loss to Novak Djokovic.Credit: Reuters
"He's prepped by Tennis Australia to know what to say. He's always ready to fire back questions that we answer to. You know, behind that I think very disappointed in Craig Tiley in Tennis Australia. He's the reason the last few years, it's been up and down for me.
"There has been [a] lack of support towards me. There has been no respect I think towards me. It's been difficult, you know, been good player the last three, four years coming up, and, you know, people expecting a lot from you. All of a sudden, things started changing after I had that surgery [double hip surgery after the 2014 Australian Open]. You know, I didn't get one phone call from Tennis Australia, can we help you, Bernard? Can we do this? Do you need something?
"Nothing. No phone calls were there. You know, I was on my own and felt really bad to such a high level as Tennis Australia, who supported me along the way very good. You know, don't get me wrong. From what Pat said, a lot of money was invested in me, for sure. But whatever they invested in me, they got in return 10, 20 times more. That's 100 per cent certain. Now all of a sudden, they are neglecting me, for some reason."
'It's not about the money. It's about the respect' ... Bernard Tomic complained about his treatment by Pat Rafter and Tennis Australia shortly after being defeated by Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. Credit: AP
Tomic's frustrations with the lack of support and respect from Tennis Australia came to a head when they forced him to pay for balls and court hire at Royal Pines and Pat Rafter Arena when he was trying to find an undercover court to practice leading into this year's Brisbane International.
"Got a call from Tennis Australia, 'You have to pay for your own courts'. Now, I thought it was funny. You know, okay, okay, I paid the court, no problem.
Pat Rafter, left, at a press conference in January where he announced he was stepping down as captain of the Australian Davis Cup team. Wally Masur will captain the team on an interim basis.Credit: Getty Images
"So rains started again. Maybe I go up to Pat Rafter Arena and practice there. Went up there, organised. Ten days before, nine days before. Practice and stuff. Guy coming to me, you have to pay the court and balls. Do you think that's fair? Honestly ... certainly not. That's where things started changing. I couldn't believe it. I took the receipt. Whose information was it through Tennis Australia? Pat and Craig. What's going on? Where is the support? How can you do this? It's not about the money. It's about the respect."
Despite the war with Tennis Australia, Tomic has vowed to play Davis Cup later this month out of respect for Lleyton Hewitt and the Australian public.
Illustration: Matt Golding
Now all of a sudden, they are neglecting me, for some reason.
Bernard Tomic
He also revealed Australia's No.1 men's player Nick Kyrgios had volunteered to sit out the Davis Cup quarter-final against Kazakhstan if Tomic wasn't going to play.
"I always wanted to play Davis Cup. I'm going to," Tomic said. "I'm going to go down there and play for the respect of Davis Cup, for the respect of the Australian public, for myself, and mainly for the respect of, you know, Lleyton and the team. You know, it's interesting what's happened the last week that Nick wasn't going to play, as well. You know, I was not going to play.
"He said, 'If you don't play, I don't play.' It was interesting now looking at this, we are in the quarter-finals of a stage, and, you know, we are sort of about to pull the pin ... "
"I will play, I will play. I will go down. I have the respect for Lleyton. The respect for the legends, Tony Roche, Laver. Not for Tiley, not for these guys. I don't think what they are doing ... it's not good at all."
Tomic's rant comes after his father John criticised Tennis Australia for a lack of financial support to his daughter, Sara. But the 22-year-old Tomic was highly critical of Rafter's performance for Tennis Australia.
"They are holding so much money down there, and doing what they want, increasing their salary, this, that, giving Pat a salary, it's like saying, 'here, Pat, here's a salary'," Tomic said.
"He doesn't know what he's doing. They are giving him a budget. He doesn't know what he's doing. What's his job? Deal with it, Pat. You're the mask. He's a mask for these guys, Craig and Steve. They don't want to deal with this. They give it to Pat, 'you do the work'. You take care of this and that. He doesn't know what he's doing. It's crazy. Meanwhile, he's charging me for balls. Charging me for balls and court at his own arena nine days before [a competition]. What's he doing?
"I don't understand. Where is the support? Where is the respect, you know? Why I have to play for them, for these guys, these sort of people? I don't understand. Like why now has it changed? It's really these guys in Tennis Australia, someone needs to go investigate them, what they are doing and where that money is going. It's horrible." "
Tomic's comments are unlikely to help Australia's Davis Cup team as they prepare to take on Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals at Darwin's Marrara Sporting Complex on July 17-19.