Aussie greats' brutal new reality check for Tomic

Australian tennis experts Todd Woodbridge and Roger Rasheed have given controversial star Bernard Tomic a sobering reminder of where his troubled career is at.

The Channel 7 commentators were speaking after Aussie young gun Alex De Minaur's thrilling five-set loss against Germany's Alexander Zverev in the opening Davis Cup singles rubber.

KIND WORDS: Benji Marshall's brilliant gesture for troubled Tomic

SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST: Tomic 'epiphany' could lead him down Kyrgios path

"In life you can have good people in front of you but you've got to decide whether to engage them or not," Rasheed said about the wayward star.

"But he's wanted to do it his own way and go coach-less as well so you make your own bed and I think right now we'll definitely see what Bernard Tomic is made of.

"If he's serious about his comments and he's serious about playing for Australia, he has an opportunity to get someone in front of him to show him the way, to mentor him, to give him some guidance, leadership.

"Some life skills that will help him down the track.

"At the moment they're not there, he's not part of the team, he's a long way away from the team. He's not even in the pecking order at the moment.

Woodbridge agreed, pointing out how hard it would be for Tomic to return to the fold for Australia, considering how long it's been since he last represented his country.

"He's just got to go out there and find himself," Woodbridge added.

"Play some tennis, work hard and not worry about media and all these other things that have no interest in what he does in his career."

Woodbridge predicted it could be at least 18 months before the World No.168 is capable of playing to a standard that would see him work his way back into the top 100.

Tomic expressed his desire to make a return to the Davis Cup arena for Australia, during an interview after his ill-fated stint on reality TV show, 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here.'

"I only got depressed when I got in (the jungle)," he said.

"It just gave me a bit of depression and made me realise I need to get back to tennis."

Tomic looked to have completely burned all bridges with Tennis Australia this week after hitting back at Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt's views on the 25-year-old earlier in the week.

Hewitt on Tuesday said he doubts whether Tomic will ever play Davis Cup tennis for Australia again, describing his decision to appear on reality TV as "strange".

Tomic became the first person in the show's history to quit on Tuesday, and offered Hewitt a parting serve in an interview with The Project.

"I don't care what Lleyton said, I never lost to him," Tomic said in typically arrogant fashion, referring to his victory over the Aussie great at the 2015 US Open when Hewitt was on the brink of retirement.

Tomic also echoed his previous claims that Australia couldn't win the Davis Cup without him.

"There's a reason why I played Davis Cup at the youngest age for Australia.

"There's a reason why my (Davis Cup) record is that good (17-4).

"They know they can't win without me and I know they can't win without me."

With agencies