‘He’s no Novak’ — Tomic flays Roger over top-10 jibe
Print Edition
OUTSPOKEN Bernard Tomic has taunted Roger Federer over his struggles against Novak Djokovic after the Swiss great candidly told the young Aussie he had to knuckle down if he wanted to reach the top 10.
Tomic, who has made more noise off the court than on it in his career so far, said the 17-time grand slam winner was “nowhere near” the world No. 1 — and insisted his own game was top-eight material.
“I think he’s also far away from Djokovic as well, if he wants to say that,” Tomic told reporters, after beating fellow Aussie John Millman to set up an Australian Open last-16 clash with Andy Murray.
“If he believes I’m very far away from the top 10, I also believe my prediction that he’s nowhere near Novak’s tennis right now.”
Tomic was reacting to Federer’s comments at this month’s Brisbane International when he said the 23-year-old needed to work hard all year if he wants to be a top-10 player.
Djokovic beat Federer, 34, in two grand slam finals in 2015, a season which was dominated by the Serbian world No. 1 who only just missed out on a calendar-year grand slam.
“The year is not just one month long or one week long. It’s 52 weeks. It’s every day. That (is what) he’s been struggling to show, to be quite honest,” Federer, the world No. 3, said.
“Many seasons now in a row we have seen or heard that top 10 is the goal, and he’s missed out on it by a long shot.”
Tomic, Australia’s top-ranked player and currently at a career high of 17, said that Federer’s criticism would serve as motivation to push up the rankings.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
