Roger Federer Wants To Advise Tomic How To Be A Professional

Written by: Staff on 21st January 2013

Roger Federer Wants To Advise Tomic How To Be A Professional

epa03547682 Roger Federer of Switzerland in action during his match against Milos Raonic of Canada, round four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 21 January 2013. EPA/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Roger Federer takes his job as chairman of the ATP World Tour’s Player Council very seriously and believes it is the responsibility of somebody who has amassed a record 17 Grand Slam singles titles and spent a total of 302 weeks as the world’s no.1 ranked player to teach others how to behave.

Therefore Federer waited until after his Australian Open third round win over the controversial Australian 20 year-old Bernard Tomic to issue a tutorial on the etiquette of being a top flight player.

“I think it’s important to be confident, but obviously you respect the game as well as the other players,” said Federer after his emphatic 6-4,6-2,6-2 victory over Tomic on Saturday evening during Australia’s prime time television slot.

“I think he now has a lot of respect for me but I’m only one guy out of hundreds. We make each other better player and I think in our sport, like perhaps in golf you usually do talk nicer about the opponents than maybe in other sports. We usually are pretty humble. It’s just the way we are.”

Federer was mindful of the rumpus Tomic had created in Australia with his well-documented fall out with Davis Cup captain Patrick Rafter after a series of sub-standard performances at the end of last year. Tomic appears to have smartened up his act in 2013, winning Sydney’s Apia International title prior to the Australian Open.

Now Federer would like to see Tomic show the same application as the youngster heads to Europe and the Middle East to play tournaments in Rotterdam, Marseille and Dubai. “He’s had a great run and now I hope he knows what he needs to do the next few months, weeks, and years ahead,” said the 31 year-old Swiss.

”It isn’t always a two-month tour. You know, we play 10, 11 months of the year, it’s ‘bring it every single day’. He seemed like a very good player today to me. So you would definitely expect him to rise in the rankings, get better draws as we go forward, plays more consistent, gets more confident. That’s how you make your move, really.”

Tomic seemed to have taken heed of Federer’s message and wants to replicate his Australian form on other continents. “I didn’t quite do it after I left here last year,” he said.

”I’ve got the right goal, the mindset to do what it is I need to do. I’m going to sit down and have my rest time, train, get ready for each tournament I play, like I did here, like I did last week and the week before. It’s a challenge, but I’ve committed to myself I’m up for it.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Atp, Australian Open, Bernard Tomic, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis News