Tomic won't play Davis Cup in February

• Bernard Tomic won't be with the Australian Davis Cup team against Taiwan in February
• The talented Tomic has been involved in a number of controversies recently
• His ranking has slipped from a high of 27 in June to 52

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Australia Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter has told troubled player Bernard Tomic he won't be on the team to play Taiwan in a first-round Asia-Oceania zone match in Taipei from Feb. 1-3.

Tennis Australia's director of tennis Craig Tiley told local media Thursday that "Pat has made the decision early that for the first tie next year Bernard will not be selected ... as a team, we just felt that athletes always put 100 percent commitment and effort."

But Tomic told Australia's Ten Network later Thursday he never intended to play the match.

"I was never meant to play that Davis Cup tie," Tomic said. "I spoke to Pat ... I'm going to use that time for training and to prepare for tournaments in America."

Tomic has seen his ATP ranking slide from No. 27 in June to 52, and he faced accusations at the U.S. Open in September that he "tanked," or deliberately lost, a match against American Andy Roddick.

On Nov. 5, Tomic was fined $1,750 and put on a 12-month good-behavior bond after facing a Gold Coast court over four driving charges resulting from twice being stopped by police in January.

In late October, police were called to a Surfers Paradise high-rise apartment building after residents saw two men, one of them naked, wrestling and fighting in a hot tub on the balcony. One of the men was later identified as Tomic.

Samantha Stosur, Australia's top-ranked women's player, said Thursday that Tomic needs to change his priorities.

"What are you doing? Are you wanting to play tennis?" Stosur said. "If you are, then give it 100 percent because you only get one crack at it.

"Until that improves in a lot of people's eyes, he's going to have to deal with things like being dropped out of the Davis Cup team."