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Bernard Tomic believes he and Nick Kyrgios are misunderstood and have been unfairly targeted by the media.
Tomic, 24, seemed bemused by all the speculation about Kyrgios needing a coach despite his good friend reaching a career-high world ranking of 13.
Mark Philippoussis is the latest to offer his services to the 21-year-old who has been without a coach since parting ways with Todd Larkham on the eve of Wimbledon 2015.
Tomic – who is also without a fulltime mentor – said he empathised with Kyrgios’ plight.
“We are very different, we are very interesting,” Tomic said on the Gold Coast on Wednesday.
“He (Kyrgios) doesn’t have a coach and he’s 13 in the world so he’s doing a great job,” he said.
“Obviously you need a mentor but at the end of the day it is all about us and how hard we want to work.
“That will determine whether we will be top players or just good players.”
Both Kyrgios and Tomic have had their recent on-court troubles.
The pair made themselves unavailable for the Rio Olympics after Australia’s Olympic team boss Kitty Chiller placed them “on watch” before the Games.
Tomic was also fined more than $13000 for abusing a heckler at the US Open while Krygios was suspended for his infamous tanking display at the Shanghai Masters.
But asked if he felt he and Kyrgios were unfairly targeted by the media, Tomic said: “Absolutely, they misunderstand us.
“We are young, we are successful.
“But it turns into a bit of negative energy when we do things wrong.
“I think sometimes we do push it more than we should.
“But that is our personality, our character.
“No one is perfect but I think we are doing a pretty good job.”
Tomic said he had overcome the abdominal injury that plagued him during a frustrating 2016.
He also believed he had the right mindset to finally break into the world’s top 10 after peaking at a career high 17th in February before injury struck.
“I’m not the best. I’m not the brightest, but we all have our problems,” Tomic said.
“I think the main thing is I’m doing what I love and I really respect the sport.”
Tomic’s first assignment is next month’s Brisbane International that will also feature Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic, US Open champ Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Dominic Thiem.
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