The director of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley, has reached out to Bernard Tomic as the former top 20 player faces uncertainty about playing in the first grand slam of the 2018 season.
Tomic, who has won three ATP titles during his career, has fallen over 100 places in the Emirates rankings since January. Overall, he has won 10 out of 29 matches played and has managed to reach two ATP quarter-finals this year in Istanbul and Eastbourne. Since Wimbledon, he has won only one main draw match at the Tokyo Open.
Currently ranked 145th in the world, Tomic is in danger of missing the main draw of the Australian Open for the first time since 2008. He will be hoping to receive a wildcard for the event. If not, he will have to go through qualifying.
In the midst of his lull in form, Tennis Australia has offered to provide support to Tomic if he wishes to receive any. He has been ranked as high as 17th in the world and is a former Wimbledon quarter-finalist from 2011.
“We have reached out to Bernie from a health and wellbeing point of view and it’s up to him to respond,” Tiley told The Sydney Morning Herald. “As far as a wildcard, it’s pretty early, and Lleyton (Hewitt) and Wally (Masur) will make that call and we will defer to what their decision is.
“He has been talking to Lleyton. We have been reaching out to him … he is in a tough place right now. His ranking has dropped and he is struggling – we have all seen it. Our job as a federation is to make sure we have a team of people there to support beyond tennis and that is where we are at.”
The offer of help from Tennis Australia has been met with a muted response so far from Tomic’s team. Once a rising star, Tomic has struggled for consistency in recent months. During the Wimbledon championships, he was fined £11,600 for unsportsmanlike conduct following a series of controversial remarks during his press conference. The fallout also resulted in him losing his sponsorship with Head.
“Bernie … we know the talent he has. He has certainly shown it out here. Obviously, it’s his goals, it’s his career, it’s his objectives – we are going to provide whatever opportunity we can to provide him with the health and wellbeing support,” stated Tiley.
Davis Cup captain Hewitt had previously urged Tomic to ‘work harder’ on the tour. The former world No.1 expressed frustration over his decision to skip the Davis Cup in 2017, but is not giving up hope about a future revival in Tomic’s career.
“I think the tennis community, especially Tennis Australia, would really love him to get back there because he’s a quality top-20, top-25 player easily and his goal should be to try and get into the top 10 some day.” Hewitt said in October.
Tomic will end his season outside the world’s top 100 for the first time since 2010.
