Masur to bring Tomic back to tennis fold

Taking over from Pat Rafter, new Tennis Australia head of performance Wally Masur says the Davis Cup door is open for Bernard Tomic.

Incoming Tennis Australia head of performance Wally Masur will attempt to bring the Tomic family back into the fold after their relationship soured under his predecessor Pat Rafter.

Former world No.1 Rafter is stepping down after two years in the role, with deputy Masur taking on the position.

Rafter and John Tomic had an bitter ongoing feud over his son Bernard and daughter Sara involving funding from TA.

That public row extended to Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt after Bernard Tomic skipped Australia's recent world group tie in Melbourne.

"I will certainly talk to Bernie," said Masur, former Davis Cup coach and then captain before Hewitt took over last year.

"Like any player, the door is open to Davis Cup for Bernie.

"He made himself unavailable for scheduling reasons and to make a concerted effort to get his ranking where he feels he should be and I don't think we can dismiss all the good things that he's done in Davis Cup in the past."

Masur said he was already in regular contact with Tomic senior and confirmed that Sara had been offered funding under a restructure by TA late last year as one of four girls and boys who train outside their framework.

Destanee Aiava and Alex de Minaur also fall in that group.

"They've got to hit certain benchmarks to get X amount of funding but I feel like that's a positive because we're not saying, it's our way or the highway," Masur told AAP.

Masur, who will drop his television commentary, said he wouldn't be getting involved in the hunt for a coach for Australian No.1 Nick Kyrgios.

He said he would leave Hewitt as TA's main contact with Kyrgios given their close bond over Davis Cup.

"That relationship is going to be important, not just from a Davis Cup perspective but I'm sure Lleyton is probably the best sounding board for him," said Masur.

As Davis Cup captain, Hewitt will report into Masur, as will men's coach Jason Stoltenberg, women's coach Nicole Pratt and Fed Cup captain Alicia Molik.

Rafter said he would take a break but would continue to play some role in Australian tennis in the future.

"The time is right for me, I came in to Davis Cup and then in this role because I wanted to make a difference and I feel we have taken some major strides," Rafter said in a statement.

"This journey for me - through the Davis Cup years and now as performance director - has been an eye opener to say the least.

"The restructuring process that we went through in September last year was intense for everyone."


Share

3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world