LESS RACKET, MORE RACQUET
THE man credited with coaching Bernard Tomic to stardom has lost all hope the 22-year-old tennis prodigy will live up to his potential.
Gold Coast tennis coach Neil Guiney trained Bernard from the age of seven to 17 and said he was disappointed at hearing Tomic had been arrested in Miami, Florida this week after refusing to turn down music and resisting arrest in his penthouse hotel apartment.
The coach said as a youngster Tomic showed potential to be a world champion but after his recent exploits, it is hard to see Tomic progressing much further in his tennis career.
“I think it’s disappointing – it’s just another episode in his life and there’s a fair sort of list of them now,” he said.
“Where it goes from here, I’ve got no idea but I’ve pretty well lost faith that Bernard’s going to make it to where he said he was going to make it and his father said years ago.”
Tomic is awaiting a court date for his latest infraction, which comes after being knocked out in the first round of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island and a dispute with Tennis Australia (TA) over funding for his sister Sara.
Runaway Bay-based Guiney said Tomic struggled with constantly being in the spotlight and the Gold Coaster’s latest foul was yet another unwanted distraction to his tennis career.
Guiney said the best he saw Tomic play was in his Sydney International win in 2013 and credits much of his success to French trainer Thomas Drouet, who was later deposed after being headbutted by Bernard’s father, John.
“He may have trained hard for short periods of time but along the way I don’t think he’s ever trained hard enough,” he said.
“Your strokes will take you so far but if you’re not fit and if your mind is distracted all the time by a lot of the things that go on, to me it would be almost impossible.’’
Guiney said Tomic’s relationship with his father was toxic but said that from his encounters with the family, it seemed the pair were co-dependent.
“He’s (John) such a volatile sort of a guy that I think Tennis Australia would be sort of happy to end their association with him,” he said.
Jamie Pickering, who owns Surfers Paradise nightclubs Vanity and Sin City, said he texted Tomic yesterday morning after hearing about his arrest.
“I just said to him, ‘It looks like you have had a good night and I hope you’re not in too much trouble’,” said Mr Pickering.
Tomic had replied that it was not a big deal, said Mr Pickering.
“I think he knows he needs to be a lot more dedicated than he is at the moment.’’
Mr Pickering said Tomic was gutted to be dumped for the Davis Cup World Group quarter-final tie against Kazakhstan which started yesterday with the visitors taking a 2-0 lead in Darwin.
“I know he loves to represent his country in Davis Cup, so he would have been hurt by it.”
Tomic plans to return to the Gold Coast after the US Open in September, said Mr Pickering.