Bernard Tomic faces an uncertain future in tennis after his brutally honest and controversial comments made earlier this week at Wimbledon.
The Australian has drawn criticism from former champions such as Pat Cash for saying that he was ‘bored’ during his first round match against Mischa Zverev at SW19. During his press conference, Tomic also admitted that he called a injury time out to ‘break momentum’ and wasn’t actually injured.
“I just thought I’d try to break a bit of momentum, to use that as my strategy, because I was just playing very bad and feeling bad out there.” He admitted.
Officials at the All England Club have fined Tomic $15,000 for ‘bringing the game into disrepute’ according to Todd Woodbridge, who is commentating for Channel 7 Australia. At last year’s US Open he was also fined $10,000 for a heated confrontation with a member of the crowd, telling them to ‘suck his balls.’
Concerns are mounting over the current health of Tomic, who has won three ATP titles in his career. Explaining that he has lost motivation for the sport, Tomic controversially said that he will continue to play tennis because after his career ‘he won’t have to work again.’ The 24-year-old also showed little enthusiasm about his future results in grand slam tournaments.
“I couldn’t care less if I make a fourth-round US Open or I lose first round. To me, everything is the same.”
Three-time Wimbledon champion John Newcombe has told Perth news outlet WAtoday he fears that Tomic is on the verge of a ‘mental breakdown.’ This season the world No.57 has only won 9 matches and has suffered 10 first round losses.
“I’m told by the younger players that he can’t play more than a set-and-a-half at full pace before he’s tired. He’s that unfit.“Newcombe has claimed.
“So if he keeps going like this, he’s just going to drift and drift and drift. He’d be out of the top 100 now and pretty soon he’ll be lucky to get into satellite tournaments.”
Newcombe believes Tennis Australia will contact Tomic and offer to support him through one of their programs.
Not new to controversy
Throughout his career, Tomic has been portrayed as the bad boy of tennis due to a series of controversial incidents. At the 2016 Madrid Masters he was accused of deliberately tanking on match point against Fabio Fognini. When challenged about his actions, he told one reporter that he didn’t care because he was ‘23 and worth over $10 million.’ Tomic later apologise for the remarks.
Neil Guiney was one of Tomic’s first coaches, guiding him from the age of 7 until his teens. He has expressed sympathy for the Australian player, who grew up under a strict regime implemented by his father. On the other hand, he was not surprised by the latest comments.
“I’ve been expecting this for a long time,” Guiney told Fox Sports Australia.
“I just got the feeling that this is how things would draw to a close.
“He’s never had the drive really since he was very, very young.
“He’s talking about ‘I’ll play on for so many years and that will set me up for life’ … he won’t get in the draw, his ranking will drop down, down, down.
“The writing’s been on the wall for a long time.”
Earlier this week Tomic said that he doesn’t think he ‘respects the game enough.’ His honesty has been praised by some. Mats Wilander said that he ‘appreciated’ the truthful words from the Australian.
It is unclear what the next move is for the 24-year-old. Some are saying his recent controversy was a ‘cry for help’ and others are playing down its significance. Either way, Tomic’s future hangs in the balance as he struggles with his roller coaster mentality.
