Thaindian News

Melbourne, Jan 7 (ANI): Sports administrator and former player Paul McNamee has urged Tennis Australia to intervene in the spat between Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic.

Hewitt, Australia’s best player in a decade, and Tomic, one of the nation’s brightest hopes, are at loggerheads in the lead-up to the Australian Open starting on Monday.

Tomic’s father, John, accused Hewitt of racism at the weekend after the former No.1 declare that Bernard Tomic was unworthy of Davis Cup selection, The Herald Sun reports.

McNamee said decisive action needed to be taken. “A bridge should be built. It’s gone too far. It’s spiralled out of control, which is disappointing because I know Bernard - because Geoff Masters, who works with him, told me this - he really looks up to Lleyton. So therefore, there’s got to be a way to build that bridge.”

“If I was the president (of Tennis Australia), I want to see that bridge built real quick,” McNamee said.

The root of the conflict dates back to Tomic’s sledging of Hewitt’s good friend Peter Luczak in a Davis Cup practice match in Chile two years ago.

The ill feeling escalated at Wimbledon in June when Tomic was accused of reneging on arrangements to practise with Hewitt. Tomic said he was suffering from swine flu at the time.

But the Hewitt camp claims Tomic was overheard telling people that the former world No.1 was not good enough to practise with him.

Many neutral observers blame John Tomic for inflaming the situation. (ANI)