Cash fires verbal volley at ‘bored’ Tomic
Bernard Tomic’s embarrassing Wimbledon performance has former Australian players cringing, says Pat Cash.
In a stunning post-match admission, Tomic yesterday confessed to feeling bored during his insipid 6-4 6-3 6-4 first-round loss to German veteran Mischa Zverev and not being really concerned by his grand slam results.
He also acknowledged having a mental issue — lacking motivation and not respecting the sport enough.
His comments at the sport’s biggest showpiece prompted former Wimbledon champion Cash to caution Tomic about the Australian tennis legacy he was jeopardising.
“I don’t think Bernie by a long shot represents everybody, Australian players,” Cash told the BBC.
“He can do a lot worse than that to ruin the image that we’ve created. But a lot of ex-players are cringing, Aussies, especially the guys who started this pro circuit. We wouldn’t be here without these guys.”
Nine-time Wimbledon winner Martina Navratilova said Tomic should get out of the sport.
“It’s disrespectful to the sport and disrespectful to the history of the sport. If you can’t get motivated at Wimbledon it’s time to find another job.
“The spectators paid good money to come here and watch Wimbledon and the guy shows up and doesn’t try, he can’t be bothered. Just stay at home.”
Despite being heard complaining of a back problem during a medical time-out midway through the match, Tomic later said he wasn’t too troubled by it.
“It was definitely a mental issue out there,” he said.
“I don’t know why, but I felt a little bit bored out there.” — AAP