Tomic has dropped to 146 in the rankings after a career high of 17th last January.

Mixed performances, injury and a self-admitted attitude problem has the 24-year-old’s tennis career at a crossroads.

Kyrgios has had his own well-documented issues, including a suspension for tanking, however the No.20 ranked player said he and Tomic’s issues were very different.

“You’d be wrong if you tried to lump me in the same category as Bernard Tomic, as Kitty Chiller and tons of others have over time,” Kyrgios said in an extract from his opening article for sports storytelling platform playersvoice.com.au.

“Bernie has lost his way. We were pretty good mates when I was younger. I obviously didn’t know the tennis tour too well back then and we were guys of similar age, representing the same country, on the road at many of the same tournaments.
 
“But a lot has changed since then. He needs to figure out what he wants to do. I can’t relate to anything he says anymore. He says one thing and he does the other. And he contradicts himself all the time.
 
“He says tennis doesn’t make him happy, that he doesn’t really like the game, yet he says the only thing that will really make him happy is winning a grand slam. It doesn’t make sense at all.”

Kyrgios has come under fire for admitting he does not love the game the way he should as evidenced by a lackluster approach to training.

He has felt the wrath of the greater tennis public for his on-court antics with many current and former greats of the game frustrated by his refusal to fully explore his talent.

Kyrgios admitted he was not making the improvements he should because he doesn’t “want it enough”.  

 “I am not the professional tennis needs me to be. That’s the truth,” said Kyrgios who has pocketed $1,434,847 this year in prize money.

 “Being home is the only time I get to lead a normal life. It’s the place where I can spend time with my family, play Call Of Duty with my mates, be a kid like everyone else.
 
“It’s also the time where tennis expects me to be training, going to the gym and trying to improve the mental side of my game. I’m not making the improvements I should because I don’t want it enough, I’m not taking it seriously enough.
 
“I know that and there’s no point trying to convince anyone otherwise.
 
“There is a constant tug-of-war between the competitor within me wanting to win, win, win and the human in me wanting to live a normal life with my family away from the public glare.”

For the full story from Nick Kyrgios visit playersvoice.com.au.