Sydney: Pat Rafter says the rift with Bernard Tomic remains deep and possibly irreconcilable after the tennis star’s dumping from Australia’s Davis Cup team over his outburst at tennis authorities last week, a report said on Sunday.
Tomic created headlines in Australia when he lashed out at Tennis Australia (TA) and Rafter at a post-match news conference at Wimbledon.
During a lengthy rant the 22-year-old accused TA of penny-pinching and claimed he had been charged for practising on their courts and he also insulted former Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter, one of the country’s sports icons.
Tomic was dumped from Australia’s team for this week’s Davis Cup tie against Kazakhstan in Darwin for what TA described as his “disparaging and disrespectful comments”.
Rafter said TA had withdrawn support for Tomic “until there is some reconciliation going on”.
He said he hoped the feud was not irreconcilable and was happy to sit down with Tomic to talk things out.
“But that may never happen,” Rafter told Brisbane’s Sunday Mail newspaper.
“I’d like to think that people can change. I’ve got to stay true to what I believe in.”
Rafter, a two-time US Open champion and now TA’s director of performance, said the national tennis body’s focus was developing players “we can be proud of”.
“It’s about opportunity, not entitlement,” said Rafter, a former Australian of the Year.
“It’s a principle I believe in and feel really passionate about. The philosophy has always been in place within Tennis Australia, but when I came in there, I made it quite clear and quite strong.”
Rafter said he wanted to change the culture within Australia’s tennis ranks.
“My big philosophy is trying to take away that sense of entitlement and make young players hungry (to succeed),” he said.
“I hope that, in time, the Tomics (Bernard and father John) would see what we’re trying to achieve in terms of helping the culture within our sport.”
