When will the penny drop, if ever, for Bernard Tomic?

Terrible courts, bounce varies from one to the next depending on whats under them, and when they're new and spongy its even worse. But for older players they're easier on the feet and knees and a lot of older club players won't play on hard courts because of the after effects on the old niggles.

That's true Tsuru I wasn't thinking about badge. High standard doubles on grass. I think most kids in my neck of the woods opted for the local adult saturday arvo comp at that time. Would have been a reprieve for the parents who were already covering miles to tournaments and sunday interdistrict. But some of the top kids did. And yes the coaches all brought that serve volley culture, being contempraries of those great Australian players of the late 50's through the sixties.

Fionn, I'm surprised that synthetic grass was chosen as the cheaper, low maintenance option. Perhaps it is cheaper to lay in the first place, but it seems hard courts are just as low maintenance. I've seen as many or more tears and holes and patches on synthetic grass as I've seen bubbles and patches on hard courts. But I agree about playability - it took me at least a couple of hours to figure out the bounce on synthetic grass when I played on it for the first time 5 years ago in Sydney. And then it continued to cause problems because of the inconsistency.

Rory, don't forget that "badge" was played on grass, and that was all doubles, so those of us who were involved in that had to be able to serve and volley. I've been in the USA for the last 15 years now and I find that all the people I play with comment on how every Australian they meet can volley (particularly the old guys). And I answer them by telling them that a lot of old guys played a lot of competition on weekends that featured mostly doubles and there was a fair bit of that on grass. And of course that culture, as you indicate, carried over when those people became coaches. But you're also right about the "clay" courts that we played on - faster than red clay that is around now. Although there's a lot of "HarTru" here which plays quicker than red clay. But I'm thinking the loam courts, being closer to grass in speed, contributed to the need to volley and to the disdain for “puddlers.”

It’s interesting that grass did and still does favour Australians. When I was playing as a kid in the seventies, the only time you played on grass were the few big tournaments at white city, and it took a bit of adjustment. Really almost everyone in Sydney played the vast majority of their tennis on the sandy loam courts that were everywhere. A form of clay court…faster than euro clay though especially when they hadn’t been watered. Similar courts elsewhere from memory, en tout cas being a bit more rubbly. Maybe the grasscourt ability was more a cultural thing, the way that we were taught to volley and attack, slice etc. And a bit of disdain for “puddlers”. Not sure.

Michael, we could bring it back. We made the decision to go from grass to the much slower Rebound Ace for the Australian Open. Advantaging Europeans at our expense. We also made the decision to go from Rebound Ace to the slower Plexicushion in 2008. Further advantaging Europeans. Australia also made the decision to build lots of low maintenance synthetic grass courts, which are a disaster at almost every level—especially in terms of developing good players. It is virtually impossible to learn on them because they are so weird and inconsistent and terrible. Thankfully, Tennis Australia has tried and is trying to get rid of them and replace them with hard courts.

Look at the representation of Switzerland, Belgium and even Spain and France. Then look at the representation of Germany, the UK and the US. It is more than just player numbers, it is about domestic coaching and development structures first and foremost. For many years Australia was in the Dark Ages in terms of both coaching and pathways, which meant that we couldn't capitalise on all the money generated by having a Grand Slam. Tennis Australia totally redesigned everything in the mid to late 2000s. Unfortunately, it takes 10-20 years for the changes to flow though. We are finally starting to get the fruits of these changes. We have far more top and developing players than we had 10 or even 5 years ago.

The other big problem is councils trying to gouge associations and clubs for every cent they can get, while bowls and football clubs pay a pittance. There is a lot of money from the AO and TA is pouring some of it into grass roots, it's a difficult era with so many other entertainment options, but Tennis isn't the only one struggling with participation - league is on a downward spiral, Rugby is losing participants at an alarming rate. Just because Football and AFL are doing well, doesn't mean all sports are increasing. Squash is faring far worse, with many courts disappearing and no TV money to funnel into grassroots.

@ Tsuru Even when Leyton Hewitt won Wimbeldon the kids weren't catching on to tennis. The game has a lot of problems. Losing courts is one, as you have identified, To be fair, the demise of grass has given the advantage to the Europeans.

I've just had a flashback. When I was a kid in the 60s, when the challenge round was still in existence, the Davis Cup final was played (when in Oz) at Christmas time. And I remember always being inspired after Christmas to get out there on court to play and imagine I was playing in the Davis Cup. Particularly after we won the event. So all we need now is a few wins at the top level to inspire kids to play tennis more. Catch-22 anyone?

Michael, one of the major problems is the grass roots problem. I haven't lived in Oz for the last 15 years, but I visit my daughter in Sydney pretty much every year. And it seems that each time I visit, yet another group of tennis courts has disappeared. The number of competition teams around now (at all levels) has dropped by maybe 75% since I last played in them (admittedly 40 years ago). In the last 20 years tennis and squash have lost participants, not just to other sports like touch football, basketball, soccer, etc., but also to aerobics and gym classes. So the pool has shrunk. I actually think the number and quality of tour level players is about in line with Oz's population numbers, but it's nowhere near what it used to be when we were over represented. It seems like we should be able to do something given that the interest is still there when the Australian Open is on. Perhaps you're right in saying Tennis Australia needs to figure out how the other sports have increased their participation rates.

The bottom line is that tennis is still the sick man of Australian sport. They can say what they like about 5 year plans and 10 year plans, but they haven't fixed the basic problem of lack of depth. With depth you can carry a few characters. Aussie golf, cycling, basketball, swimming, surfing, football codes, sailing, shooting, rowing all have reasonable depth. I suggest Tennis executives ask people from those codes how to get it.

Tomic may never figure it out. We expect so much from our sports stars and for some they don't have the unrelenting drive required to be a champion.

Tomic's Davis Cup record is pretty soft. He has only ever played 4 games at World Group stage for a 3-1 record. The 3 wins were against blokes with career high rankings of 26, 35 and 41. Tomic's boast about never losing to Hewitt was based on one meeting at the 2015 US open which went to 5 sets. Hewitt was 34 and on his farewell tour.