Australian Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter has lashed out at Bernard Tomic’s “disgraceful” performance at the US Open, saying the teen star needs to “pull his socks up”. The Australian 19-year-old made a tame second-round exit from the tournament at the hands of the retiring Andy Roddick 6-3, 6-4, 6-0, prompting allegations from John McEnroe that he was not trying in the final set. Tomic, long touted as the next big thing in Australian tennis, was then involved in an angry exchange with reporters when he was asked to respond to claims that he “tanked”. Rafter condemned Tomic’s display. “I threw out the big D word, disgraceful, to him yesterday,” Rafter told Fox Sports on Monday. “That’s just the way it was. He’s got to learn. “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.” Tomic is no stranger to controversy.
