SHOW LLEYTON RESPECT, BERNARD

For all his achievements, Lleyton Hewitt is not the most loved of Australia's sports stars.

A Wimbledon singles crown, a US Open title and lion-hearted Davis Cup efforts to keep Australia afloat in less than prosperous times just doesn't seem enough.

These days, Hewitt rarely shows signs of his precocious but sometimes obnoxious youth, but it seems the image of a ranting and sullen Hewitt is hard to live down. Unlike Roger Federer, he's not the boy every mum would love her daughter to bring home.

But despite his past imperfections, something we all share, Hewitt is a far more mature and personable man than he was as a kid. And, at the moment, he's being hard done by.

The spat between Hewitt and Bernard Tomic has been the talk of Australian tennis since teenager Tomic declined an invitation to hit with Hewitt at Wimbledon six months ago.

Tomic, of course, has claimed the fear of infecting Hewitt with swine flu was his well-intentioned but impausable reason for the snub. Regardless, it wasn't a smart move and, over the ensuing months, the Tomic camp has done little to resolve the dispute. Hewitt, understandly, is less than impressed and not inclined to demonstrate a willingness to make peace.

So let us arbitrate. At Wimbledon, we have one of Australia's most decorated players offering to continue a fine national tradition of nurturing a rising star. Possibly a future Davis Cup team-mate.

And yet Tomic, a lad with plenty of ability but little success to date, effectively gives him the cold shoulder. A snub? Absolutely a snub. Swine flu or not.

Tomic has big ambitions. At 14, he predicted, that by 18 he would hold all four Grand Slam titles. He's now 17 and ranked close to 300 in the world, with not a major in sight. It's going to take a chart-stopping 2010 for the youngster to realise his goal.

Not that there's anything wrong with confidence and ambition. Indeed, without them, there's little chance of reaching the top. But a healthy dose of humility and reality along the way is also advisable. Along with the courage to say sorry -- I stuffed up.

Hewitt should not take any of the blame for this dispute. In fact, a player of his standing in the game should not have been dragged into such an undignified and childish squabble in the first place. Not a former world number one, when he's on the receiving end of a cold shoulder from a new kid on the block.

Both players are receiving advice to shake hands and make up. Good advice, but you can't expect Hewitt to make the first move.

Just as Hewitt finds it difficult to rid himself of a public image formed as a teenager, in years to come, Tomic might find himself in the same boat.

Unless he grows up quickly.