Roger Federer said he did not realise how highly Bernard Tomic was ranked when he criticised the world No.17 earlier this month.
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The Swiss great sparked a war of wars between the tennis players, when at the Brisbane International he was asked about Tomic's quest to break into the world top 10.
"He's been struggling to show (it), to be quite honest," Federer said then.
"Many seasons now in a row we have seen or heard that top 10 is the goal, and he's missed out on it by a long shot."
Tomic this week hit back at Federer, saying the world number three's game was nowhere near that of reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic.
Federer beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets on Tuesday to advance to the semi-finals of the Open, where he will play either Djokovic or Japan's Kei Nishikori, whereas Tomic was knocked out of the tournament by Andy Murray on Monday night.
Federer said he felt his comments about Tomic had been taken out of context, because he also said some nice things about the 23-year-old Queenslander.
He also admitted he had not realised how highly Tomic was ranked when he said he was a long way from making the top 10.
"I didn't know his ranking was as high as it was, to be quite honest," he said.
"I thought he was like 50 or 60 and he was top 20. That was my bad, to be honest. But I don't check the rankings every day. I came from the off-season. I had no clue what was going on anymore. That was my bad."
"But I still believe it's a big difference top 10 for a week or for a year or for multiple years, and getting there is not easy. It's a lot of dedication, a lot of hard work. There's a lot of guys who have the potential right now, not just him. That's why I think it got brought up in many ways."
"It was, I thought, quite funny, because I knew what I said and I knew what I didn't know then when I said it. It was kind of funny, I thought."
Australia's other controversial young gun Nick Kyrgios was knocked out of the Australian Open by Berdych in the third round.
Federer, now a much-loved figure in world tennis, said he too felt misunderstood by the public at the start of his career.
He said Kyrgios was a great player, but the next few years would be crucial for his career.
It would be shame to waste the young Canberran's abilities, he said.
"I was already unbelievably impressed at his sheer power, his talent, his potential, all that," he said of the time he trained with the Australian ahead of Wimbledon.
"I think he's a great player. I think he's enjoyable to watch. I know some people might not like it. I like it. He's got a lot of personality. Might take it far to some extent, but I think he's a great player. He's got sick power, and it's going to take him a long way."
Federer said talent alone was no longer enough to get players far in tennis.
"Just talking about a guy who has talent and potential, I can't hear it anymore. Too many guys have talent. Too many guys are working hard. I don't believe in that very much anymore."
