Tomic tumbles amid tumult
Australian ends silence, stands by banned father
PARIS On an overcast, rainy day at Roland Garros, Bernard Tomic’s immediate future remained cloudy.
Playing his first match since his father was banned from attending the French Open or any other tour events, the rising Australian star injured his hamstring early in the first set and then retired to Victor Hanescu of Romania while trailing 7-5, 7-6 (10-8), 2-1.
But tennis is almost secondary as Tomic tries to sort out the direction of his troubled career.
John Tomic was accused this month of head-butting his 20-yearold son’s hitting partner, Thomas Drouet, outside of a hotel in Madrid. Drouet told the French newspaper L’Equipe that John punched Bernard in the head at a recent training session in Monte Carlo.
The ATP and International Tennis Federation have barred John from receiving credentials while they investigate. He is due in court in Madrid in October. The French tennis federation said Monday that it had informed the ATP and Tomic’s agent that John would not be permitted on the grounds even as a paying customer.
Bernard, ranked 61st, spoke publicly for the first time since the May 4 incident Tuesday.
He addressed the news media by declaring in no uncertain terms that his personal and professional relationship with his father was unchanged.
“He’s here right now in Paris, so he’s still working with me. He’s still my dad, he’s still my coach and, you know, I love him a lot,” he said after a moderator asked reporters not to ask questions about Madrid. “Involving the incidents that happened, I don’t want to talk about it a lot — or at all, I should say.”
While the incident is months away from playing out in court, Bernard said he would try to pick up the pieces and put it out of his mind.
“I mean, the last two weeks, I was training well, playing well, didn’t think a lot about it, was not worried,” he said.
Tennis Australia officials have stepped up to offer help, including Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter and Davis Cup coach Josh Eagle, who are in Paris.
The effect on Tomic’s tennis, at least in the short term, has not been insignificant.
The day after the alleged attack — John Tomic disputes the charges — Bernard lost his only match before Tuesday 6-3 , 6-2 to Radek Stepanek. Eagle was in the stands and said, “It was like he was frozen out there.”
Tomic then pulled out of Rome, citing personal reasons, and returned to his base in Monte Carlo to train with his father.
“It’s such a difficult situation for all of us,” Eagle said when asked if he was concerned about Tomic’s welfare amid accusations of physical abuse. “We haven’t experienced anything like this before. My main concern is that Bernie is OK. It’s really shaken him up. We can all see it on the court physically. He’s just not right.”
Off the court, the Tomic family, which immigrated to Australia from the former Yugoslavia, has had a history of run-ins with the Australian tennis community.
Bernard has tangled with police over traffic violations and his possible role in a hot tub brawl at a resort last year.
He also has been accused of tanking matches and was suspended by the Australian Davis Cup for its match against Taiwan earlier this year.
“He had so much success as a youngster that he has struggled,” said Eagle, a former doubles specialist who has taken on a mentoring role. “He sort of hit a roadblock at the tour level and hasn’t been able to progress as quick as he wants. But there is no doubt from what I’ve seen that he has the ability and skills to be a top-10 player.”
Bernard said Tuesday that he would be looking to bring someone else on board before the grass-court season but that his father would remain his coach. He acknowledged it was not easy with his father barred from attending his matches.
According to Eagle, an ATP trainer detected a muscle tear while scanning Tomic’s leg during a rain delay at the start of the second-set tiebreaker and suggested he stop. But fearing the blow-back from his recent family troubles and his reputation for occasionally giving less than his best effort, he continued on.
There is no sense that the current situation with his father will change anytime soon.
“I honestly believe that his dad will be in the forefront of the picture for a long time,” Eagle said.
In that case, the picture is likely to remain murky.