WASTED TALENT CASH SLAMS BERNARD TOMIC
Cash doubts Tomic, Kyrgios will match career of Philippoussis
AUSTRALIAN tennis legend Pat Cash questions if wayward Bernard Tomic will come close to matching the career of Mark Philippoussis, considered one of the sport’s under-achievers.
In an interview days before Tomic’s latest on-court flop – a lacklustre first-round loss at Delray Beach to 57thranked Steve Darcis – Cash said if the Gold Coaster finished his career with just a sole grand slam quarter-final to his name it will be an under-achievement.
Cash, visiting the Gold Coast this week, said both Tomic, 24, and fellow Australian tennis bratpacker Nick Kyrgios, 21, still had time but he is starting to doubt if either will finish with better records than retired countryman Philippoussis, dubbed “Scud” because of his huge serve.
“People say Philippoussis wasted his talent but he had a pretty damn good career. He got to the final of the US Open, a final of Wimbledon, won two Davis Cups.
“These guys out there at the moment, at the beginning of their careers would be going that’s probably the minimum they would get – now I think they would be really happy to achieve somewhere near what Philippoussis did.”
Cash, a Wimbledon champion who worked at the Australian Open where he saw Kyrgios and Tomic lose in the first week, added: “I’ve got a feeling these guys are going to be standing up at the end of their career going ‘Look what I blew, look what I wasted’.
“Isn’t that a shocking feeling? Not all of us can achieve what we set out to but you’ve got a long time to think about it after.”
In 2011, 18-year-old Tomic was the youngest male to reach a Wimbledon quarter since Boris Becker 25 years earlier.
Cash said Tomic, whose ranking is expected to slide from 31 to outside the top 40 after a string of first-round losses in 2017, could easily be top five.
“There is no doubting his talent. If he put a bit of hard work in he would be top 10.
“I would be fully confident I could get Bernie into the top 10 if he was willing to do the work.”
Since a hard-fought straight sets defeat in last month’s Australian Open third round to British player Dan Evans, Tomic has not won a match, and was criticised for an alleged lack of effort in latter stages of his loss to Darcis.
Asked if he would consider coaching Kyrgios or Tomic, Cash – who formerly mentored Philippoussis – said: “I would probably scare them off. They’d be scared to think I’d run them into the ground.”
Cash, 51, said he wouldn’t rule out coaching professionally in the future but was committed to media roles commentating for the BBC, and writing.
“I’ve had a few offers but it’s got to be the right person and the right time.”
At the Australian Open after Tomic’s third-round loss, Philippoussis told the Bulletin Tomic’s defeat to 51st-ranked Evans was a “huge opportunity that slipped by”.
“He talks about top 10, he has the game for top 10 but instead of talking about it he has to show it,” Philippoussis said.
“Nothing is easy in life – no matter what you do you have to work.”