National coach Pat Rafter makes up with wayward star ahead of second round tie.Australian Davis Cup coach Pat Rafter has recalled tennis bad boy Bernard Tomic back into the squad to play Uzbekistan in the Asia/Oceania second round tie early next month.
Tomic had made himself unavailable after Rafter lashed out at Tomic’s work-ethic ahead of the country’s scheduled tie against Chinese-Taipei.
“I threw out the big D-word – disgraceful – to him yesterday. That’s just the way it was. He’s got to learn,” Rafter said last year.
“There’s no use sugar-coating something. He has to do the work and I’m sick and tired of tip-toeing around it, and I think everyone else is as well.
“He needs to realise. That’s what he needs to do, and he says he does.”
However, Rafter’s stance has softened and he has recalled the world number 45 into the side as Australia again attempts to become a superpower in the Davis Cup.
Australia enjoys a proud history in the tournament, winning it an incredible 28 times and finishing runner-up a further 18 times.
However, with no wins since 2003 Rafter has been handed a tough task of added another number to the victory column.
Tomic will be joined by former world number one Lleyton Hewitt, Marinko Matosevic and Matt Ebden for the clash which starts on April 5.
Tomic is again struggling for consistent form having been blown off the court recently by world number two Andy Murray in the second round of the Miami Masters, 6-3, 6-1.
Rafter realises the enormity of the task to take down Uzbekistan, but backed the side chosen to progress to the next stage despite not having the advantage of playing at home.
“We have a team which is very motivated to go into an extremely tough away tie and try and win our way to a world group playoff,” Rafter said.
“The boys are training hard and they have shown some good form in the lead up, so I am expecting some big things from them.”
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