Some choice words from leading sports psychologist Phil Jauncey might be all Bernard Tomic needs to crack tennis’ elite this year.

But it depends on their delivery, as Australia’s Davis Cup captain Patrick Rafter discovered in Brisbane on Friday.

World No.36 Tomic helped Australia take a hard-fought 2-0 lead over lowly South Korea in their Cup tie after finally overcoming the unranked Min-Hyeok Cho – and some serious mental demons.

Tomic was jumped early by the plucky Cho so Rafter thought he would echo the thoughts of Jauncey, who had been welcomed into their Cup camp this week.

It didn’t go well.

“He has been working with Phil Jauncey on the mental side of things so I tried to repeat those words and it didn’t work very well,” Rafter smiled.

“So I just shut up for the rest of the match.”

Despite Tomic digging deep to seal a 7-5 6-3 6-3 win, Rafter believed the Wimbledon quarter-finalist had plenty of work to do to lift for lower-ranked players as he strived to crack the world top 10 this year.

“We spoke about this all week, but he got on the court and he got himself in that state again,” Rafter said.

“It is something Bernie has to get over – simple as that. If he wants to develop, he has to learn to respect all of these guys.”

Tomic admitted he needed “something extra” to make the jump from good to great in 2012 – and Jauncey’s advice might just be it.

“I have got the right tennis to be up there but I need to make one more step to get into the top 10,” Tomic said.

“If I do all the right things, it will happen for me in the next few months.

“To become great, you need something different, something extra.

“That’s what I have to develop and I am going to keep doing it until it happens.”

Tomic said he still learned plenty from taking on the likes of world No.1 Novak Djokovic but believed lesser lights like Cho, 25, also helped.

“The better the player, the better I play,” Tomic said.

“The trick is playing against guys like this (Cho) who are lower ranked – it will help me build my game.”

Some “tough love” from Rafter also helped on Friday.

Asked what advice Rafter offered, Tomic laughed: “Some of the things you don’t want to know.”

World No.75 Matthew Ebden gave Australia a 2-0 lead when he sealed a 6-3 6-3 6-4 win over Suk-Young Jeong, ranked 730th.

Jeong became South Korea’s No.1 after their six top-ranked players opted not to come to Brisbane, reportedly due to a dispute with their federation.

Australia’s Chris Guccione and Marinko Matosevic have been named to take on Jeong and Jae-Min Seol in Saturday’s doubles rubber.

Winning the tie will book a World Group playoff berth for Australia in September.