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Australian tennis great John Newcombe says Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic must meet face-to-face to end their reported feud.
The seven-time grand slam champion, who captained Hewitt to Australia’s Davis Cup victory in 1999, urged the pair to sort out their differences for the good of Australian tennis.
Former world No.1 Hewitt is believed to have fallen out with current junior world No.1 Tomic after the teenager reportedly refused to train with his senior compatriot before this year’s Wimbledon event.
It’s been reported Tomic knocked back the invitation because he was suffering from swine flu but further reports have suggested Hewitt refutes that excuse.
Whatever the truth, Newcombe said the two players must sort the differences out themselves, not through their respective support groups.
“It seems today that most top players have people around them and all that,” Newcombe told AAP.
“The problem is you get a situation like this that needs the two players themselves to communicate rather than their entourage firing bullets.
“It would be good for tennis in Australia if people around them didn’t make comments and just left it up to the players.”
Newcombe, who captained Australia in the Davis Cup from 1995 to 2000, said any differences between Hewitt and Tomic must take a backseat to the country’s quest to return to the world group of that competition.
“It’s a bit silly not to (have them team up) isn’t it? It just makes sense for all that to put in the past and get on with the job,” he said.
“We’re out of the world group and if we’re not careful we’ll be even further back.”
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