Khaleej Times

Tomic admits he never loved tennis

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melbourne — Under-fire Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic has boasted of his “amazing” achievemen­ts in the sport and winning millions of dollars in prize money despite not really trying hard throughout his career.

In a candid interview with Australian broadcaste­r The Seven Network, the 24-year-old also said he felt ‘trapped’ in the sport and had no regrets about his Wimbledon admission of being ‘bored’ during his first round defeat, a comment which cost him a steep fine and his sponsorshi­p with racket manufactur­er Head.

“Throughout my career I’ve given 100 percent. I’ve given also 30 percent,” Tomic said in the television interview from Miami. “But if you balance it out, I think all my career’s been around 50 percent and I haven’t really tried and I’ve achieved all this,” Tomic said.

“So it’s just amazing what I’ve done. I never loved tennis. I am just going to go about it as a job.

“Wouldn’t anyone want to take a job in a profession­al sport in one of the biggest sports in the world and only give 50, 60 percent and earn millions of dollars? I think everybody would take that.”

Once touted as a potential grand slam champion and a top 10 player, Tomic’s ranking has slid to 73 from a career-high of 17 at the start of 2016.

After a listless 6-3 6-4 6-3 defeat by Germany’s Mischa Zverev at Wimbledon, Tomic said he felt a “little bored” on the court and had suffered from a lack of motivation for two years.

The comments drew condemnati­on from former players and pundits across the globe.

“I don’t regret what I said,” he said. —

 ??  ?? Bernard Tomic
Bernard Tomic

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