Tomic: Federer is 'nowhere near Novak right now'

Everyone agrees that Bernard Tomic is incredibly talented. That’s not up for debate.

But there have long been questions about his character in light of several off-court issues.

And has he reached his ceiling? He’s only 23 years old, but the world No. 17’s lone appearance in a Grand Slam quarterfinal came at Wimbledon back in 2011.

"He's been struggling to show [it], to be quite honest,” Roger Federer said of Tomic earlier this month at the Brisbane International. "Many seasons now in a row we have seen or heard that [the] Top 10 is the goal, and he's missed out on it by a long shot."

Those comments clearly didn’t sit will with Tomic, who defeated countryman John Millman, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2, in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday.

"Yeah, well, he has his predictions,” Tomic told reporters during his post-match press conference when asked about what Federer had to say about him. “I think he's also far away from [Novak] Djokovic, as well, if he wants to say that. If he believes I'm very far away from the Top 10, I also believe my prediction that he's nowhere near Novak's tennis right now.

“It also motivates me. I'm working for that. When I'm playing well, I'm a Top 8 player in the world. My ranking has to get there. I'm going to work every day this year getting to the Top 10. It's not just getting to the Top 10. I'm going to get there. It's about staying there for a while. It's about being consistent.”

Tomic will have to get through second-seeded Andy Murray, who beat Joao Sousa on Saturday, to reach his second career major quarterfinal.