‘THE TOMIC’ MAKES DAY FOR JUNIORS
Gold Coast tennis star does his image no harm after stopping by for a hit with youngsters
RESURGENT Gold Coast tennis star Bernard Tomic isn’t just climbing back up the rankings — his personal stocks are going up too.
Gold Coast parent Tony Zillmann has revealed Tomic turned up at his 11year-old daughter Amali’s training at Kirra Tennis Club and hit with her, making her day.
Zillman posted a photo on Facebook, saying: “He doesn’t get the best rap in the media but to just stop and ask if he could have a hit with the kids is something they will never forget! Good work Bernard Tomic!” Zillman says Amali was training a week ago with fellow junior John Hann,
12, under coach Paul Shacklock when a red Ferrari pulled up. A man emerged saying his mate played at the courts growing up and wondered if they would mind him joining for a hit.
“Paul asked what his name was and the mate says ‘Bernard Tomic’. He wouldn’t get out until we said it was
OK. He jumped on the court and served at the kids for 10 minutes, did a volley session with them, had a few rallies, gave them encouragement.
“The kids were hyperventilating after. They were calling him ‘The Tomic’ and said ‘Did we just have The Tomic here?’,” Zillman told ATG.
They posed for photos in front of the Ferrari after the kids suggested it, he said. “He was so humble. It won me over and Amali too – and now we will go and watch him play. It has changed my whole opinion of him,” Zillman says. Tomic surged back into the top 100 recently after winning the Chengdu Open.