Rod Laver has expressed concerns over the work ethic of Aussie teen sensation Bernard Tomic ahead of next month's Australian Open.
"Sometimes you hear of disturbing things, his game, maybe it looks like he's not caring enough about his game, and sometimes you're flat, that happens," Laver told Aussie newspaper The Courier Mail.
"He's got to bring himself through that level and train himself to work all the time as hard as you can. Then it doesn't get tough. The more he can prove that he's playing hard and concentrating and preparing for the match and winning those matches, that's what's going to make him win a lot more tournaments. He's a great player now. But he's got to be a champion, he's got to win tournaments."
Much is expected of Tomic after he proved he's a force to be reckoned with in 2011, becoming the youngest player since Boris Becker in 1986 to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals. He's now the highest ranked Aussie in the men's game and next month he'll get a taste of the media hype which will surround him for the next decade when the Australian Open kicks off.
Tomic is not short of ambitions himself and he aims to reach the top ten by next October. However some of Laver's concerns have arisen around Tomic's performance in the smaller events when the spotlight is off. From June-November, Tomic had just a solitary quarter-final to show for his efforts and while there's much to be said for rising to the big occasion, Tomic will need far greater consistency to achieve his ranking goals.
