Tomic loses in 58 minutes amid claims of ‘tanking’
Jo-wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Bernard Tomic (Australia) 6-2, 6-1, 6-4
Whatever happened to Aussie grit? The nation which prided itself on the work ethic of Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor and Lleyton Hewitt is now represented by Bernard Tomic, who contrived to lose his first-round match to Jo-wilfried Tsonga in less than an hour.
It was the second-shortest men’s match at Wimbledon since such records started in 2002, after Roger Federer’s 54-minute demolition of Alejandro Falla in 2004. Such an unwanted slice of history brought fierce condemnation from BBC commentator John Lloyd, who variously described his performance as “horrendous”, “abysmal” and that he had seen more competitive matches in his local park.
It is unlikely that Tomic will receive a penny of his £45,000 prize money for his first-round exit as Wimbledon organisers investigate whether he “tanked” the match.
The 26-year-old has form in this regard. There is a reason that he has acquired the moniker “Tomic the Tank Engine” in the Australian press. Two years ago, he was fined £15,000 here for another straightsets defeat by Mischa Zverev after which he admitted he had faked an injury. He later claimed that he was “bored” by Wimbledon, comments which also cost him the support of his racket sponsor, Head.
On another occasion, he told the press: “I don’t care about that match point. Would you care if you were 23 and worth over $10 million?”
Hence benefit of the doubt may be in short supply as organisers investigate whether Tomic downed tools on Court 12. Certainly, Tomic displayed all the grace and movement of a geriatric sloth. If the ball was not in his immediate vicinity then he made no effort to retrieve. A bemused Tsonga took the first set in 18 minutes, the second in 17 before coming down to Tomic’s level in the third, which took him 23 minutes.
Tomic denied that he had tanked, saying: “I just played terrible. I think I played as best as I could. It’s just I played terrible. I knew if I didn’t feel good I’d lose this match quickly. We played so fast. It’s not like we’re gonna have a lot of rallies out there, for sure.”
None of that is likely to wash with the referees’ office, which will decide whether to withhold his prize money.