Bernard Tomic has fired a shot at 17-time grand slam champion Roger Federer in retaliation to comments the former world No.1 made in Brisbane a fortnight ago. Following Tomic's straight-sets victory against fellow Australian John Millman on Saturday night, the 23-year-old took aim at the Swiss great, who had questioned whether the Queenslander would finally become a top 10 player. 
Tomic, who will take on Andy Murray in the fourth round on Monday, was asked whether Federer's comments at the Brisbane International motivated or offended him, leaving no secret as to the impact it had.
"Yeah, well, he has his predictions," Tomic said. "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."
Federer was asked about Tomic's development on his way to reaching the final of the Brisbane International, offering a blunt summation of where he believed the Australian was at.
"He's been good, but then top 10 is another story," Federer said. "The year is not just one month long or one week long. It's 52 weeks. It's every day. That [is what] he's been struggling to show, to be quite honest. 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. I think before speaking so highly, maybe it's good to take it to the next level, whatever that is. We shall see."
Clearly Tomic didn't take kindly to Federer's criticism, but said his words were acting as inspiration. "It also motivates me. I'm working for that," Tomic said. "When I'm playing well, I'm a top-eight 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.
"These guys that have been there the last five, six years on the tour, you have [Tomas] Berdych, [David] Ferrer, [Kei] Nishikori that have been there for a while, they're consistent. They're there for four or five years. That's what I want to become, and possibly be even better after I get there."