TOMIC THE TANK ENGINE IS ‘BORED’ IN DEFEAT

BERNARD TOMIC turned in a pathetic display as he slouched out of the first round and admitted in an extraordinary post-match press conference that he was ‘bored’ on court. The Australian, who could face a heavy fine for lack of effort, also said he had taken an injury timeout purely to disrupt his opponent Mischa Zverev’s momentum. The 24-year-old said he was no longer motivated by winning tennis matches and was simply aiming to play for another decade to amass a fortune so he never had to work again. ‘I felt a little bit bored out there,’ he said after the 64, 6-3, 6-4 defeat. ‘Holding a trophy or doing well, it doesn’t satisfy me any more. It’s not there. I couldn’t care less if I make a fourth round or I lose first round. I’m going to play another 10 years and after my career I won’t have to work again.’ After his defeat in one hour and 24 minutes, Tomic (left) has another £35,000 to add to that retirement fund. The world No 59 has banked over £4million from tennis. He called the trainer on to the court in the second set for what appeared to be an issue with his back, but, asked about the timeout, he said: ‘I just thought I’d try to break a bit of momentum, to use that as my strategy, because I was just playing very bad and feeling bad.’ So no back issue? ‘No, not really. It was definitely a mental issue out there.’ Tomic, a languid player at the best of times, was almost sleepwalking out on Court 14. He won four per cent of points on Zverev’s first serve as he let aces drift past him. When he was read a tweet from an angry Aussie calling for him to be deported from Australia, Tomic said: ‘That’s his opinion. I’m sure he’s on the computer somewhere making $50 an hour.’ Grand Slam supervisors and Wimbledon referees will meet this morning to discuss yesterday’s incidents. A spokeswoman said: ‘The referees’ office has been made aware of the comments in his (Tomic’s) press conference.’