BEHIND THE SPORT DESK: Defusing the Tomic bomb

AFTER bowing out of the Australian Open, Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic unleashed an extraordinary public rant, but was he really wrong?

TENNIS: After bowing out of the Australian Open in the first round, Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic unleashed an extraordinary rant on Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt.

After suggesting players had issues with "someone at Tennis Australia", Tomic couldn't hold back any longer.

During his tirade, the 26-year-old said "no one likes" Hewitt, and questioned the two-time Grand Slam winner's priorities when it comes to his Davis Cup responsibilities.

But does the brash, loud mouth, sometimes tanker have a point?

MOOSE ELKERTON: Hewitt courting Cup disaster

BERNARD Tomic might be a brat. He might have worded it wrong. He might be the wrong person to say it altogether.

But he might also have a point about Lleyton Hewitt.

Tomic was sensational in his post-match press conference earlier this week.

Coming off the court after he was blown away by Marin Cilic, Tomic fired both barrels squarely in the face of Hewitt.

From playing favourites, to playing on the court, Tomic did not miss the former champion.

But there is an air of truth in what he had to say.

It is odd that an aging Davis Cup captain would take a playing spot in the team, leaving out one of the country's potential rising stars.

Or even the country's top line tennis players, including Kyrgios and Tomic who haven't played the international competition since 2016.

The other issue is Hewitt's visible favouritism of young star Alex Di Minaur.

Much like the rest of the Australian public, Hewitt is throwing the full weight of his support behind the demon, but it juxtaposes his lack of support for the troublesome two.

Last week Kyrgios made it clear he felt "abandoned" by Hewitt in Brisbane.

Hewitt also wasn't courtside for Tomic's straight sets loss to Marin Cilic on Monday.

This perceived favouritism is forging a rift between the top Australian singles players at a time when they need all the support they can get.

It also takes away from the great work Ash Barty is doing and that's just unacceptable.

JARRARD 'POTTSY' POTTER: Tomic toxic for Aussie tennis

AFTER crashing out of the first round of the Australian Open, perennial underachiever Bernard Tomic arrived at a press conference and gave tennis great Lleyton Hewitt more of a serve than he dished out on centre court, in the latest chapter of a feud so toxic reporters should have been issued biohazard suits.

The problem is, there's a small group of players who have some gripes with Hewitt over some contentious Davis Cup selections, but they're in the minority of Australian tennis players, and some of Tomic's accusations are baseless at best, wildly ridiculous at worst.

The fact is, Tomic and Hewitt have been feuding for some time, and this is just the latest salvo in an ongoing sledgefest.

Problem is, Tomic is way off the mark with a lot of his accusations, and quite frankly doesn't have much credibility when he is failing to win matches and titles.

Claims of bias in picking players for wildcard selection because Hewitt makes money off them don't have a leg to stand on when players like Alex Bolt aren't managed by Hewitt's management company.

It's also rich to claim Hewitt should "go away" as he is too "old" when in Davis Cup doubles matches Nick Kyrgios, Millman and Kokkinakis were unavailable.

With the success of De Minaur and the failure of Kyrgios and Millman, Hewitt's wildcard picks have been justified too.

Game, set match Hewitt.

Originally published as BEHIND THE SPORT DESK: Defusing the Tomic bomb