Tennis a job for Bernard
AN emotional Bernard Tomic has bared his soul again, getting teary-eyed in a TV interview when played footage of himself in his early teens.
Just weeks after a sensational Wimbledon press conference when he admitted to boredom on court in a firstround loss and lacking motivation, the Gold Coaster revealed he liked tennis but never loved it, considers the pro tour a job but still harbours Grand Slam ambition.
Showed footage of himself at 12 saying he loved tennis “from the ground to the sky, it’s my soul”, he started to tear up: “Can I cry now?”
“That was amazing. It’s motivating and emotional and I was about to cry so thank you for showing me,” he told Sunday on Channel 7.
Asked what he would tell his young teenage self, the 24year-old said he would advise against playing tennis.
“Do something you love and enjoy because it’s a grind and it’s a tough, tough, tough life. If you want the good life to come after that financially, maybe do it.
“But if you don’t love it, don’t do it – my position, I’m trumped. I have to do it, I like it, I continue to do it. But that 14-year-old kid has a choice always of what he wants to do.”
Tomic, with bases in Miami and Monaco and earnings of more than $7 million during his career, said he didn’t regret his Wimbledon comments.
“I said my honest opinion. I wasn’t motivated the last four to five months and I was going through the motions and it just happened to be at Wimbledon.
“I feel I need to find my balance, I need to find my mindset whether it’s now or in one month or three months, it will come and it’s going to be on my terms.”
Asked about tanking in matches, he said: “I don’t tank. I just get disappointed in myself and very angry and I forget about what the score is and I forget about who I’m playing and I think about different things even though I’m on the tennis court.”