World No.22 Bernard Tomic has confirmed that he will not take part in this year’s Olympic Games and will instead play at the Los Cabos Open in Mexico.
The Australian No.2 has chosen to skip the event due to ‘his busy schedule’ as well as ‘personal circumstances’. It has also been confirmed that Tomic committed to defend his Bogotá title at the inaugural Los Cabos Open before he knew that the date had changed. The new tournament has replaced Bogotá.
“I have always proudly represented my country in Davis Cup and given my all when wearing the green and gold, but on the basis of an extremely busy playing schedule and my own personal circumstances, I am regrettably unable to commit to this year’s tournament,” Tomic said in a statement.
Tomic participated in the 2012 Olympic games, losing in the first round to Kei Nishikori. His decision to skip the games comes as a surprise for some. During his attendance at the London games in 2012, Tomic spoke very highly of the Olympic Games and said that winning a gold medal ‘was bigger than winning a grand slam’.
The absence of Tomic comes shortly after he was placed on a ‘behaviour watch’ by Australian Olympic chief Kitty Chiller. Chiller has been a vocal critic of Tomic and his behaviour on the court. During his match against Fabio Fognini at the Madrid Masters, Chiller called Tomic’s behaviour ‘appalling’. The Australian was seen holding his racket the wrong way as Fognini served for the match.
“It’s his choice. We don’t force anyone to take part in the Olympic Games,” Chiller said about his withdrawal.
“We only want people in our team who want to be there and are prepared to abide by what that team means.
“That’s irrelevant now. My stance hasn’t changed. Bernard was on notice, that hasn’t changed, now that he has withdrawn now makes it irrelevant.”
A more sympathetic reaction to Tomic’s announcement came from Davis Cup coach Lleyton Hewitt, who skipped the 2004 Olympics to focus on the US Open. The former world No.1 said that Tomic is ‘passionate’ about representing his country and stated that his decision ‘wasn’t made lightly’.
Limelight back on Nick Kyrgios
Australia’s biggest medal hope now lies with Nick Kyrgios. Like Tomic, the world No.20 has also been put on the behaviour watch by the Olympic committee. Unlike the high profile controversy involving him in 2015, the fiery 21-year-old has only been caught up in minor incidents this year consisting of heated exchanges with match umpires. The improvement of Kyrgios’ behaviour hasn’t gone unnoticed by Tennis Australia. In an unexpected move, Tennis Australia president, Steve Healy, has released a statement of support for the world No.20.
“Since the disciplinary action taken against Nick last year he’s made a concerted effort to improve his performance and behaviour, and full credit to him,” Healy said.
“It’s unfortunate that he’s been included unfairly in recent discussions on player behaviour that have not involved him.
“His performances this year have been markedly improved and it’s obvious he’s showing more maturity. Only world No.1 Novak Djokovic has beaten more top ten players than Nick this year.
“Nick deserves the opportunity to concentrate on his tennis without any additional distractions.”
The player likely to be joining Kyrgios in the Olympic Games is John Millman. The 26-year-old is currently ranked 62nd in the world and has a win-loss record of 10-11 this year.
