Melbourne, Dec. 25 (ANI): Australian tennis great John Newcombe does not support the view that Queenslander Bernard Tomic is the most likely successor to Lleyton Hewitt as his country’s next world class player.

“I think he’s got a long way to go. He’s done well in the junior ranks and has got a couple of minor results in the seniors, but there is nothing yet to indicate that he will become a top-20 player,” the Daily Telegraph quoted the seven-time grand slam winner, as saying.

“It’s (2010) a very important year for Bernard, because if he doesn’t make the advances and with the hype about him being so great it could end badly. His agents have done a lot of deals for him and if he doesn’t break into the top 100, you have to think maybe he doesn’t have it,” Newcombe added.

Having won both the US Open and Australian Open junior titles, Tomic, 17, has made steady but unspectacular progress on the senior tour.

At the age of 16, he reached the second round of last January’s Australian Open to become the youngest male tennis player to win a match in the grand slam event.

However, he went on to lose in the first round at the French Open and was knocked out in qualifying at Wimbledon.

And despite his tender years, Tomic has seen a number of his coaches come and go from his camp, with his father John heavily involved in developing his career.

Last year Tennis Australia officials censured Tomic senior following an outburst over alleged unfair treatment of his son.

And he was forced to apologise after pulling his son from a court in Perth mid-match and then alleging officials had a vendetta against him.

This was followed by a row with Hewitt after Tomic allegedly rebuffed an offer to practice with the former world No.1 at Wimbledon.

Former Davis Cup captain Newcombe said he was disappointed at the bust-up between the pair and indicated Tomic needed to reassess what he was doing if he was to progress.

“The kid has got a lot of talent, but I don’t think he is as far advanced as he should be. There are a number of areas of his game that have holes and are not going to withstand the pressures out there in the major leagues,” Newcombe said. (ANI)