Roger Federer not surprised by Bernard Tomic's fall from grace but says he can boucne back Roger Federer was given a tough match by Bernard Tomic in Melbourne earlier this year. ROGER Federer says Bernard Tomic needs to make a move into the top 25 next year, putting behind him the wreckage of the final weeks of his 2013 season with a strategy to simplify his approach to tennis. Tomic opens his Australian summer campaign on Saturday night in Perth at the Hopman Cup when he plays Canadian Milos Raonic, the world No.11. Federer, who opens his quest to rebuild a challenge for grand slam honours in 2014 at the Brisbane International, is plainly surprised that the young Australian he beat in the third round at Melbourne Park last January has since gone backwards in the rankings by eight places. Federer's career trajectory is one which could give food for thought to Tomic, 21, and his father John, who is banned as coach until May by the ATP Tour for injuring practice partner Thomas Drouet. "Clearly, we all expect more from Bernard after the great start he had in Sydney and then at the Australian Open," Federer saidfrom his training base in Dubai. He has had a very tough season, let's be honest. We know he has a higher gear to go to and has great potential. It's going to be one of those seasons where he (needs to) prove himself on the tour and not lingering around No.50 in the world and move inside the top 25. He struggled all the way through which wasn't surprising after what happened. I hope he can play a more simpler way mentally. It's hard playing when distracted for a long period of the time. Tomic lost his last six main draw matches in 2013. It is a lot. But it's happened before," Federer said. In the beginning, every problem you have is almost a new problem. When you are in the public eye, it's not as simple as you sometimes think it is. You have to be able to clear things out. As he is getting older, I am sure he is learning how to do that. Even though Tomic has come to prominence in an era in which the average age of the top-100 men is 27 years, a comparison of his achievements from the ages of 18-21 to Federer's is interesting. Tomic reached his first grand slam quarter-final at 18 years, eight months, at Wimbledon, and in the year Federer turned 18, 1999, the Swiss right-hander went 13-17 for the season. Federer was aged 19 years, seven months when he made his first grand slam quarter-final. On his 21st birthday, he was ranked No.13. Tomic was ranked No.51 when he turned 21 in October. Andy Murray, to cite a comparison other than the extraordinary Federer, was No.3 on his 21st birthday. I was famous (when I was 21) for being able to beat people on any day, but not being consistent enough. It wasn't enough," said Federer, who broke through to win the 2003 Wimbledon title a month from his 22nd birthday. Milos Raonic will provide an immediate measuring stick of how Tomic has rebounded via his pre-season in the Hopman Cup, having already built a trend of playing some of his best tennis in Australia after a training block. Rod Laver said earlier this month that he expected Raonic, ranked 11th, to be the next man other than the "Big Four" - Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Federer and Murray - to win a grand slam title. Tomic last month hired Croatian Vladimir Zovko as coach and John Tomic previously foreshadowed he intended to be more in the "background" in the coaching of his son. Sam Stosur and Canadian Eugenie Bouchard are the other players in the Australia-Canada Hopman Cup tie.