NEW LOW FOR TOMIC

IF money is what motivates Bernard Tomic in tennis, he will not find much comfort in his $700 first-round loser’s cheque at a Challenger event in France.

The Gold Coaster’s long road back in tennis will not seem any shorter after his 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 loss to France’s world No. 251 Antoine Hoang in his first match since his unsuccessful bid to qualify for January’s Australian Open.

The Gold Coaster had promised he would rededicate himself to tennis after last month’s return from a reality television show in Africa, saying he had “wasted this whole last year of not playing a lot of tennis and being professional’’.

Tomic, 25, is scheduled to play a Challenger in Alicante, Spain, next week and has wildcard requests for ATP tournaments for the following month.

The stars with whom he used to rub shoulders will be playing the $US8.9 million ATP Miami Open this week.