The rift between Davis Cup outcast Bernard Tomic and Tennis Australia has escalated dramatically, with Tomic's father John threatening to sue the governing body for defamation over an email misreporting of this week's ATP tournament name as the "Hall of Shame Tennis Championships".

Tomic accepted a wildcard into the grasscourt "Hall of Fame" event in Newport, Rhode Island, after an outburst at Wimbledon resulted in the world No.25 being overlooked for the Davis Cup quarter-final against Kazakhstan in Darwin, starting on Friday. Tomic has drawn fellow Queenslander John-Patrick Smith in the Newport first round.

A Tennis Australia email said Bernard Tomic was to play at the "Hall of Shame Tennis Championships". Credit:Joe Armao

After John Tomic's pre-Wimbledon criticism of TA's funding of his daughter Sara, in particular, led to performance director Pat Rafter's subsequent vow to cut off all financial support for the Tomic family, Bernard followed his third round Wimbledon loss to eventual champion Novak Djokovic with an extraordinary attack on the operation headed by chief executive Craig Tiley, and president Steve Healy, while effectively describing Rafter as their stooge.

The next instalment came in a written statement sent from Tomic senior to Fairfax Media on Monday, which read: "The Tomic family is very disappointed by TA's continual shaming and misrepresentation of Bernard.