‘Trapped’ Tomic says he has no love for tennis
AUSTRALIAN star Bernard Tomic admits he has no love for a game that has earned him millions, saying it is just a job and he feels “trapped”.
In a frank Australian television interview, the 24-year-old told his fans to stay at home rather than pay to watch him play if they were opposed to his polarising on-court antics.
“Don’t come,” Tomic said late on Sunday. “Just watch on TV – [then] you don’t have to pay anything.”
Tomic, who was hit with a US$15,000 fine after he claimed he was “bored” during his lacklustre first-round defeat at Wimbledon last month, said he oscillates between full commitment and apathy on court.
“Throughout my career I’ve given 100 percent. I’ve given also 30 percent. But if you balance it out, I think all my career’s been around 50 percent,” he said in the interview.
“I haven’t really tried and [still] achieved all this, so it’s just amazing what I’ve done.”
The talented Tomic has long been plagued by controversy, making headlines last year when he turned his racquet the wrong way to face a match point against Fabio Fognini in Madrid.
“I didn’t come from a rich family. We had no money. And now living in all these lavish houses and property around the world, it’s my choice. It’s something that I’ve worked for,” Tomic said.
Once mooted as a rising star of the sport, Tomic has slid down the rankings to 73 from a career-high 17, and he added: “I’m just going to go about it as a job.
Tomic divides opinion in Australia, and there was both criticism and support following his latest candid revelations.
He has had a fractious relationship with Tennis Australia, which dropped him from the Davis Cup team, but the organisation’s head of performance, Wally Masur, expressed sympathy yesterday.
“Bernie has been ultra-professional since he was 14, and it’s almost like he’s suffering some sort of burnout at the moment,” Masur said.
The tabloid Sydney Daily Telegraph pulled no punches: “Few people lose any sleep over Bernard Tomic these days.
“As a nation Australia has become accustomed to the tennis brat’s shameful performances on the tennis court and off it, and his window of forgiveness is now barely a centimetre wide, if it’s even there at all.”
But he won a more sympathetic hearing on social media. “Tough to watch because Tomic is a talent that doesn’t realise his potential. Needs guidance and direction,” tweeted Australia football star Tim Cahill.
Asked during his interview to provide advice to aspiring tennis players, Tomic was blunt.
“Don’t play tennis. Do something you love and enjoy because it’s a grind, and it’s a tough, tough, tough life. My position, I’m trapped. I have to do it,” he said.