Tomic a chance at Open
Kooyong entry puts Gold Coaster in place for qualifying
THE intrigue around Bernard Tomic’s future has taken another twist, with the Gold Coaster agreeing to play the Kooyong Classic next week, while doubts remain over his Australian Open qualifying intentions.
Kooyong tournament director Peter Johnston said Tomic would use a Tuesday afternoon pipe-opener as preparation for Australian Open qualifying, which starts the following day. This is despite the former world No.17 indicating to Tennis Australia he would likely miss qualifying.
Overlooked for a maindraw singles wildcard, Tomic would need to sign on for qualifying on Tuesday.
Johnston said the Queenslander had committed to the Kooyong event, which features Novak Djokovic, David Goffin and Dominic Thiem.
“Bernie is definitely playing a match, late afternoon on Tuesday,” Johnston said.
“We’re not sure yet who he’ll play but, with Australian Open qualifying starting the following day, we’ll look at a match with a shortened format for him. He’s keen to play.”
Tomic’s apparent eagerness to take to the court competitively for the first time this summer is another chapter in an elusive and highly unorthodox Open “preparation.”
He rejected Lleyton Hewitt’s offer to train with fellow Australians and opted out of TA’s wildcard playoff.
His attitude and fitness disappointed Hewitt and powerbrokers Wally Masur and Jason Stoltenberg, while Open tournament director Craig Tiley looked elsewhere for the final two wildcards.
“He’s not going to get a wildcard. He’d have to go through qualifying,” Tiley said.
“Qualifying starts next week ... and I would hope that Bernie would want to put himself in a position to play but he’s indicated that that’s likely not going to be the case.
“We’ve made the offer (to play in the wildcard playoff). Lleyton (Hewitt) did.
“We all know Bernie can play the game. He’s had some great wins here. He’s one of Australia’s top players and we’d love to see him competing and playing.”
Ranked No.140, Tomic, 25, did not return calls to News Limited. He is mired in the worst form slump of a tumultuous career. After reaching the third round of the Open last year, Tomic won just eight more matches in 2017.