The most famous practice snub in Bernard Tomic's short but colourful tennis history involved Lleyton Hewitt, at Wimbledon, back in 2009, inflaming wounds that took some time to heal.
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Now comes word of another, with British qualifier Daniel Evans claiming after Thursday's four-set win over Tomic that he had been told by Tomic's father John, in Miami last year that he was not good enough to hit with the talented young Australian.
"It was quite funny actually. I was there playing qualies (qualifiers)," Evans recalled.
"His dad sort of fobbed me off and said I wasn't good enough to practice with him, yeah. I remembered that. Because we spoke the other day.
"We went to practice, it was all booked. Got to the court. In Miami, there's a little practice hut. I got to the practice hut. 'No, no, he's a qualifier, I'm not hitting with you'. So it was one of those. A bit embarrassing, but hey."
Had he spoken to Tomic junior about it? "Yeah, I know him pretty well. Like, played juniors with him. But I don't think it was his doing. He wasn't there."
So to this week. Before beating Tomic, ranked 127 places above him, in the second round, Evans received a surprise practice invitation. This one from the 17-time major winner Roger Federer, who - improbably - the 23-year-old could meet in the Open's fourth round.
"It was amazing actually to sort of hit with someone so good," he said. "I really enjoyed it. Actually had a really good hit. It was a very good experience ... (He's) a nice guy. Was interested in what I did. It was good."
