Roger Federer said he did not realise how highly Bernard Tomic was ranked when he criticised the Australian earlier this month. 
The Swiss great sparked a war of words between the players, when at the Brisbane International he was asked about Tomic's quest to break into the world top 10.
"He's been struggling to show [it], to be quite honest," Federer said then. "Many seasons now in a row we have seen or heard that top 10 is the goal, and he's missed out on it by a long shot."
Tomic this week hit back at Federer, saying the world number three's game was nowhere near that of reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic.
Federer beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets on Tuesday to advance to the semi-finals of the open, where he will play either Djokovic or Japan's Kei Nishikori, whereas Tomic was knocked out of the tournament by Andy Murray on Monday night. Federer said he felt his comments about Tomic had been taken out of context, because he had also made complimentary remarks about the 23-year-old.
He also admitted he had not realised how highly Tomic was ranked when he said he was a long way from making the top 10.
Australia's other controversial young gun Nick Kyrgios was knocked out of the Australian Open by Berdych in the third round.
Federer, now a much-loved figure in world tennis, said he too felt misunderstood by the public at the start of his career.