Tomic’s sarcasm unleashes torrent of scorn
TENNIS bad boy Bernard Tomic faced a heavy backlash after boasting “I just count my millions” in response to failing to negotiate qualifying for the Australian Open.
Once a rising star, the 25year-old Gold Coaster’s ranking has plunged after a 2017 season in which he admitted he was “bored” and not always giving 100 per cent.
He missed out on a wildcard to his home grand slam from Tennis Australia after failing to front up for last month’s playoff, forcing him to go through three sudden-death qualifying matches.
He negotiated two but not the third on Sunday, denying him entry to the Open for a 10th consecutive year. Reports said he could now be heading to Africa for Channel Ten’s I’m
A Celebrity reality TV show. In his only post-match comments, he said sarcastically: “I just count money, that’s all I do. I count my millions.
“You go do what I did. You go make 13 to 14 million. Good luck guys. Bye-bye.”
It sparked a fierce backlash on social media, including from former players.
Former grand slam winner Andy Roddick said he had no sympathy for Tomic.
“Maybe stop for a second and think of the millions you’ve left on the table,” he wrote on Twitter.
When someone criticised Roddick, the American said Tomic’s troubles were “selfinflicted”.
Fellow former grand slam champion Pat Cash said Tomic had led a “privileged life”.
“It’s a situation where (it was) too much too early as a young player,” he told 3AW.
“He really has done nothing in his career. That’s true, and that’s kind of sad in a way.”
Tomic was described online as “arrogant, a spoilt brat and a loser”, although some appealed to cut him some slack.