MELBOURNE — Australian Bernard Tomic has hit back at Roger Federer's suggestion that he is a long way from being a top 10 player, saying the 17-times grand slam champion faced a quality deficit of his own compared to Novak Djokovic.
Outspoken Tomic reached the last 16 of the Australian Open for the third time by beating compatriot John Millman on Saturday, the last surviving Australian man at the tournament.
The 23-year-old has made something of a habit of shining at Melbourne Park before fading away over the rest of the season, a record that led Federer to suggest the world number 17 had missed his ambition of a top 10 berth by a "long shot".