Tomic, Harrison still way behind Big 4

The two youngest men in the ATP Top 60 —  Aussie Bernard Tomic and American Ryan Harrison — concede the talented young quartet, that includes Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov, has a long way to go to catch up to tennis’ Big Four: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

"We’ve got a ways to go," said the 20-year-old Harrison after his 6-4, 7-6 (5) loss to Tomic at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. "There’s been two or three Top 10 wins from all of us and unfortunately, I’ve contributed a zero. For me I’ve got to break the Top 30. There are so many steps. Once you start beating those guys in the Top 10 you have to do it consistently. And they have such a stranglehold on the tour it’s a ways to go. The way you get to that level is to keep pushing each other, keep working and trying to improve."

The 19-year-old Tomic, a former Australian and Wimbledon quarterfinalist, added: "I’d love to place myself there and players like Milos and Grigor and Ryan in the next three to four years, but we are in the most difficult time of tennis and the top three to four show they are legends. Ten years ago, twenty players could win a Grand Slam. Now there are just three players and Murray’s still struggling and it's a difficult time for young players. But if we improve. I think out time will come in the next few years, but we have to keep working hard."