Tennis is a clean and pristine, wondrous sport known for grace, elegance, and aesthetic violence inside a contained arena. Millions of people spend billions of dollars to play and watch the fascinating game of tennis.
Yesterday the sport of tennis was shamed perhaps worse than it has ever been shamed in over a century. Bernard Tomic tanked his first round match to no. 27 seed Mischa Zverev of Germany, 64 63 64. Long known for his questionable work ethic and desire to compete, the very talented Tomic startled the media with his post match comments.
“It was definitely a mental issue out there,” Bernard Tomic said after losing to Zverev. “I don’t know why, but I felt a little bit bored out there, to be completely honest with you.”
Tomic did not hold back and continued his confession. “So I feel holding a trophy or doing well, it doesn’t satisfy me anymore. It’s not there. I couldn’t care less if I make a fourth-round US Open or I lose first round. To me, everything is the same. I’m going to play another ten years, and I know after my career I won’t have to work again.”
These are unbelievable comments. Tomic does not care if he wins or loses. He finds tennis boring now and he can’t be bothered to give a hundred percent effort anymore. And if you read between the lines, it’s almost like Tomic is saying that he is talented enough to win or lose whenever he wants to maintain his ranking to continue direct entry into tournaments and continue to earn a handsome salary.
Why is he playing and why does he plan to keep playing for another ten years if tennis is so boring?
Would Tomic throw a match to help a friend? No one can answer for sure.
Would Tomic resort to illegal gambling on his own matches? No one can answer for sure.
There are a lot of questions that need to be asked, by the ATP face to face with Tomic.
Legends of the sport like Rennae Stubbs, Pat Cash and Martina Navratilova sharply criticized Tomic yesterday, with Stubbs calling Tomic “an embarrassment to the sport and yourself.”
If the ATP has a contract clause for players about respecting the ATP World Tour and behaving in a manner that does not undermine or embarrass the tour they might want to exercise that clause immediately against Tomic and give him a two year vacation – or perhaps a permanent ban.
If not, then the ATP should amend it’s policy and make it policy that no player should ever speak so disrespectfully about the sport ever again.
Tennis has had enough of Bernard Tomic. And if he does not change his attitude and clean up his act to conduct himself like a professional athlete is expected to, the sooner he is removed from the ATP World Tour, the better.
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1 2 Next »catherine · July 5, 2017 at 2:30 pm
catherine writes:
It's called 'disaffection'.
Henk · July 5, 2017 at 3:47 pm
Henk writes:
Just another spoilt, too much-too soon tennis-brat whose parents (especially father) never bothered to develop his parental guiding skills. What a complete waste of natural talent. I saw Tomic win the 12's, 14's and 16's Orange Bowl (the latter at age 15!) which, so far, has never been done before. The kid had a no. 20 World junior ranking at 15… but the arrogance already showed at age 16. The different interview statements, including this last one, say enough about the ZERO gratitude for his talent, privileged life and the kind of low class me-first 'human' being he is.
Scoop Malinowski · July 5, 2017 at 4:27 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Henk; First time I saw Tomic was at US Open juniors when he was fourteen or fifteen. A lot of Aussie ex pros were out there watching on the outer court 15 area. The kid was a thin as a weed and he had that headband on. Silky smooth effortless way of playing but the word was he had an attitude already back then and Tennis Australia had just sat him out of Roland Garros and or Wimbledon juniors because of behavior. So it's always been an issue with Tomic. The curious part is when the media asked him yesterday about giving his prize money from Wimbledon back for not trying and Tomic oddly mentioned if Federer should give all his money back? It's like Tomic was insinuating that Federer is a tanker or recipient of tanking. What the heck could Tomic have been suggesting? For Tomic to speak so bluntly and disrespectfully about the ATP without fear of payback is curious.
Andrew Miller · July 5, 2017 at 4:32 pm
Andrew Miller writes:
Tomic is living his dad's dream. No matter what we say that reality haunts him. I have some sympathy for these uber talented guys who find themselves in the top fifty but hate the sport. Just not much sympathy because, at some point, they either have to ply their talent or decide to do something else. Australia is interesting in this way. None of these guys likes tennis much. They like the trappings like the cars, the status, the money, just not the obligations or the game itself. He'll have to realize the two go together.
Andrew Miller · July 5, 2017 at 4:41 pm
Andrew Miller writes:
Just weird two of those guys who love the rewards of the sport but not the sport are Australia's two beat players, both guys under 25. That's why I said that they may not last. There are other young Australians who are going to dethrone them and these guys will lose their perch atop Australian tennis. Suddenly Hewitt wont be as interested in bending over backwards (if they haven't noticed, he's less interested because he's dedicated to the country's tennis talent, which goes beyond tomic and kyrgios). Maybe then they will find their way back through the wilderness of tennis sure things. Or maybe they'll respond to the pressure. Who knows.
MargaretMcAleer · July 5, 2017 at 4:47 pm
Scoop…..Tomic was sent home from Roland Garos as a junior by Tennis Australia for not displaying enough effort at the tournament.
Moxie · July 5, 2017 at 7:15 pm
If Tomic's father pushed him like Agassi's did, perhaps he has the same resentment that Andre has admitted to. But Agassi did find his own way to a love and appreciation of the sport. Perhaps Bernie can find some inspiration there. It would be sad if it weren't so galling and infuriating. I hope tennis does sanction him for lack of effort.
Hartt · July 5, 2017 at 7:25 pm
Hartt writes:
Tomic also admitted to taking a MTO to try to throw Mischa Zverev off his rhythm in that match. Tomic is now at No. 69 in the live tennis rankings. So already he will need to play qualies to get into the upcoming Masters tourneys. Perhaps his low ranking will take care of the situation – he will face top players early in tournaments and at some point perhaps won't even get into the main draws of Slams.
Duke Carnoustie · July 5, 2017 at 7:40 pm
Duke Carnoustie writes:
Silly to suggest Tomic should "give back" the money when Wimbledon won't "give back" the money to fans who shelled out to watch Dolgopolov and Klizan quit. At least Bernie played three garbage sets! Interesting that Mats Wilander has defended Tomic … http://www.sportingnews.com/au/tenn…nnis-mats-wilander/10ht7p9anz6vw1f0nhqofhmmm1 Also here is the entire interview… http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/articles/2017-07-04/2017-07-04_bernard_tomic_first_round.html
Andrew Miller · July 5, 2017 at 8:16 pm
Andrew Miller writes:
Agree with Moxie. Tomic likely finds himself doing a job he doesn't like – he likes the benefits but hates the job. Agassi in his book said that's what he recognized, he came to understand that he had a talent for a job he didn't like. He made peace with that and here we are. Lendl seemed to like golf more. Fish actually went onto the semipro golf world as well. Michael Jordan went into baseball. Point is all of them returned with some kind of truce with the sport. I don't think Tomic's beyond that kind of truce with a game that chose him. To me I hate seeing players tank. I tanked once and it was out of frustration. I didn't like seeing Coric tank a few years back in Australia to Kuznetsov the Russian. Or Agassi tank against Cahill in Davis Cup back in 1990 in St Pete/Tampa. Heck I didn't even like seeing Roddick surrender to inevitability in the fifth set against Federer at Wimbledon in 2009, when he started giving in just enough for Federer to pull out a match that seemed within Roddick's reach. But tanking exists. Tomic may not find a way out of his dislike of a sport his dad forced him into, or find himself a way to love a sport that criticizes him so consistently (welcome to the sport). I hope he does find some way to think and approach the sport in a healthier way.
Scoop Malinowski · July 5, 2017 at 8:27 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
it's just unfathomable that Tomic dislikes tennis so much yet keeps playing. There probably were other players who played just for the $ but they didn't advertise their taunting the ATP and fans and media. I wonder if he has some kind of leverage on the ATP?
Scoop Malinowski · July 5, 2017 at 8:29 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Thanks Margaret. So it's a pattern of his character to tank. If one could figure out Bernie's patterns of when he wants to play and doesn't nd when he get bored, one could get rich 🙂
Dan Markowitz · July 5, 2017 at 10:08 pm
Dan Markowitz writes:
Oh come on. The guy plays a lot of tournaments. He can't play hard in each and every one of them. Obviously, if he continues to play poorly, he won't make a living playing tennis and he'll give it up. In the immortal words of Spadea when he was making his comeback from no. 247, "You don't want to lose money to play pro tennis."
Duke Carnoustie · July 5, 2017 at 10:08 pm
Duke Carnoustie writes:
Here are the Wilander comments since I don't know how to paste that link… But Wilander, in London leading Eurosport's coverage of Wimbledon, said on Wednesday Tomic was only saying out loud what many players feel. "Everybody jumped on one or two sentences, that is all. But he is just trying to explain how he feels… what is going on. I guarantee you every single player here at Wimbledon feels or has felt like Tomic is saying he feels," the Swede said. "I really appreciate that he was honest about it." Former world number one Wilander, who says he experienced similar losses of motivation during his career, believes more honesty is needed to confront these issues. "We need more honesty out there, but it is hard when you see what the media does to someone who is trying to be honest," he said. "Are you saying that Andy Murray was not emotionally flat for some of this year? And I think it is exactly how Novak Djokovic was at the French Open. "Everybody gets bored or rather emotionally flat sometimes, but most players are not so honest as Tomic. They have sponsors that need to be happy, and they want to keep the tour happy. "Tomic is young, only 24, but already this is his eighth or ninth Wimbledon. People need to realize that this is a tough, tough individual sport. "If you don't get tired or bored then there is something wrong with you – you are not human. People maybe don't realize that. "Players try to hide it and try to be the perfect role model, but it is not always so easy."
Duke Carnoustie · July 5, 2017 at 10:11 pm
Duke Carnoustie writes:
I do find it shameful that these tennis tournaments won't give partial refunds when players quit or tank. Reprehensible on their part to pretend like they can't.
Moxie · July 5, 2017 at 10:18 pm
Wilander often likes to hear himself talk. There is a difference between honesty and petulance. Burn-out because you've put your heart and soul into it, traveled the world for most of the year year, and pretending you're burned out because you can't be arsed to make the effort. I can't pretend to know what goes on in Tomic's life or his mind, but he does come off as someone with a sweet deal in life, with talent, with a fortunate situation, and he's willing to just spit on it. He pretty much defies empathy, and I have been trying.
Ricardo · July 5, 2017 at 11:03 pm
Marat Safin used to do the same, in one of the AO matches he caught a second serve with his hand instead of returning. But he was smart enough not to verbally disrespect the sport that gave him everything. In his memoir he mentioned how earning money was really the sole purpose why he went out there, as his mum told him to 'go and get it'.
Not sure why he mentions Federer though, as Roger is totally the opposite of him……loves the sport and never tanks nothing.
Moxie · July 5, 2017 at 11:37 pm
We agree on some things, but you might be cautious about where you make equivalencies. Andy Roddick fought Roger tooth and nail for that final at Wimbledon in 2009. He was never broken in the match until the last game. He was heartbroken to lose that match, and I'm pretty sure it contributed to him retiring early from tennis. That was no tank and it wasn't even a capitulation. He just lost.
MargaretMcAleer · July 6, 2017 at 12:00 am
TP Blog Guest said:
↑
Tomic was also given a IMG contract and a Nike contract as a junior.Looking back in hindsight,to me.this was the start of his entitlement.Tomic and his father have had many arguments with Tennis Australia.Tennis Australia backed down on many occasions.Tomic was seen as our 'Knight in Shining Armour' to get us out of the tennis doldrums.Tomic has really never 'evolved' as a player to me.He has intimated many times in the press here in Australia he does
not train as hard as he should.Tomic is a tall player and for starters should have a better serve than he does.This latest outburst to me living in Australia is disgraceful and some of our 'legends' feel the same way.
Nekro · July 6, 2017 at 12:33 am
Ricardo said:
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Imo Tomic realized he's not good enough to get big so he's frustrated and angry at himself, this is clearly self-destructive behaviour from him, i see the same from Bouchard….. She's too old to fix her serious technical flaws + everybody figured out her counterpunching game and her dreams are crushed…. That's why she chose to do the bullying campaign against Sharapova, because she wants to be in the centre of attention but she can't achieve it with her ugly and technically flawed game…. They're both channeling their big ambitions and egos into something negative and destructive….
The difference between Safin and Tomic is that Safin had multi GS winning talent so he was at peace with himself and the world, that's why he didn't say things like Tomic….. On the other hand Tomic got unreal hype when he didn't have the talent……
Henk · July 6, 2017 at 1:40 am
Henk writes:
MargaretMcAleer, spot on and that's what I was referring to when I wrote, "spoilt brat" and "too much too soon". I have seen other players getting ridiculous sponsor deals and never ever making it because of the pressure from early on. Scoop, yes he was indeed still 14 when he played the Junior USO for the first time. He lost in the qualies but made it into the Main Draw as a LL and then lost in the round of 16 to none other than Jerzy Janowicz. He went on to win the Orange Bowl in the 16's and then the Junior AUS Open having turned 15 only a few months before. This kid started winning ITF Grade 4 tournaments at age 13 and ended his Junior career winning the USO at age 16. And yes there were issues then already, but I was referring to the arrogance part which didn't show until he was almost 16. He was actually pretty charming when he won the Orange Bowl in the 16's as a 15-year-old. Sad to see it all go to waste.
Nekro · July 6, 2017 at 2:23 am
TP Blog Guest said:
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Junior results don't mean anything… The juniors' AO was just won by Piros Zsombor, one of the least talented and weakest players in the already weak Hungarian field…..
In the end what counts is that Tomic is a pusher…. a sucky one at that….. He's like Bouchard….Maybe with more persistence he could turn into a Wozniacki….
An article about Tomic's game, it was still an optimistic one, but what it all boils down to is that he's a pusher: http://www.essentialtennis.com/the-peculiar-game-of-mr-tomic/
People with brains knew early he was a useless pusher: https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/bernard-tomic-extremely-overrated.395101/
Ricardo · July 6, 2017 at 5:26 am
people have been saying he relaxed too much in his ferrari in gold coast, and last year i saw him there being totally relaxed…..i guess people are correct when they say pro tennis pays too much money, it corrupts players spirit when you can earn multi millions without winning anything major…….on top of that they get pretty girls falling their way too.
Having said that, you need to be one in a million talent to be Tomic. He is lucky to have talent, bad luck to the average Joes who probably work harder but won't ever get a fraction of what Tomic got.
Ricardo · July 6, 2017 at 5:32 am
well he is still one in a million talent so i wouldn't talk him so low. and i don't think its so simple that he just realised he's not 'good enough'…….because he was never known to have trained as hard as tennis greats have. He definitely got self-entitlement because tennis rewards these boys so much, so early (with money and women) that it corrupts him……we all know what happened to Safin but he did work for it when he started out with nothing while Tomic had always been pampered.
scoopmalinowski · July 6, 2017 at 6:11 am
scoopmalinowski writes:
Wilander is spot on! Agree with Mats on this. Tomic actually is brave to be so sincere. Not being phony. Hes terribly frustrated he cant invade the Big Five echelon. He told us the ugly truth. Gotta respect that.
Nekro · July 6, 2017 at 6:24 am
And what constitutes his talent exactly? Just watch his old vids, his peak time when he won all those junior titles… He was a pusher then he's a pusher now….. We could say he has a good variety of shots and he has some swag, we could say "omg the kid reminds me of Santoro" but the truth is he has no solid weapons…. He has some nice slices, some nice shots here and there but no big weapons and his movement is just horrible, he runs lamer than Steven Seagal….
young tomic was so talented, lol, a comparison with Hewitt:
Hewitt vs Tomic: 16 years old: Hewitt ranked #162 ATP. Tomic ranked #818 ATP. 17 years old: Hewitt #101 ATP, including 2 wins over world #4 Pat Rafter. R16 at Aussie Open. Won Adelaide & Sydney. Tomic ranked #295. 2nd round of Aussie Open. 18 &19 yrs old: Hewitt #6 ATP. 4th round Aussie Open. Multiple ATP Tour titles & wins over Top 10 players. Tomic #48 ATP. 20 yrs old: Hewitt #1 ATP. U.S Open Champion. Tomic: lol
Why exactly should we be so enthusiastic about Tomic and his talent?
catherine · July 6, 2017 at 6:30 am
catherine writes:
Scoop- Actually I agree with you and it's refreshing to hear someone spill it all in those useless press conferences instead of bland on bland if not downright untruths. It's been clear for a long time that Tomic has a complicated relationship to the game, a lot springing from his family background (father esp) and maybe an immature personality not ready to deal with all the stuff relative success at an early age throws at you. He shouldn't be penalised, not just for talking. Might sort himself out, might drift away from tennis. That's his choice. He'll be beaten a lot anyway with his current attitude so can't see much of a future.
britbox · July 6, 2017 at 6:38 am
OK, one point to Tomic for being honest, but fifty points away for basically admitting tanking in a grand slam tournament. Catherine – I think not penalising him sets a dangerous precedent. It shafts the public watching and then there is the more seedy side of the sport such as betting, match fixing etc that can encroach on things. Not to mention the fact that another player who could have stepped in and played instead of him. Sorry, he's a disgrace – maybe a disgrace with some honesty, but a disgrace nevertheless.
catherine · July 6, 2017 at 7:54 am
catherine writes:
Britbox – I see your point but 'tanking' is a difficult thing – players can 'give up' ostensibly, I've seen them do it, but they're not always clear afterwards what their state of mind was. I wonder also about the degree of control Tomic has over his behaviour now – he just may not be able try harder, the way a seriously depressed person can't do things, and they may not be completely conscious of what's wrong or be able to admit it directly. So it comes out as simply not caring. Manmy years ago a very famous player tanked a Wimbledon final but didn't say so until a long time afterwards – of course in those days there were no post-match interviews. No one at the time called the defeat 'tanking' or maybe dared to.But it was.
britbox · July 6, 2017 at 7:57 am
Seles?
Hartt · July 6, 2017 at 8:46 am
Hartt writes:
Tomic was fined $15,000. Even if he does win some matches, fines could eat into his prize money.
catherine · July 6, 2017 at 9:00 am
catherine writes:
Britbox – No – it was BJK – she's mentioned it herself so no secret. 1969. She fell behind in the 3rd set v Anne Jones and gave up trying. Blamed it on exhaustion and off court pressures. Hartt- I saw Tomic was fined for 'faking an injury' or for 'comments made' so which was it ? And I seriously doubt that Bernie, in his current psychological condition, can continue to play for another 10 years. Of course at 24 life seems a little different. I suppose – I can't really remember 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · July 6, 2017 at 9:25 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Catherine; Wilander is being criticized but he made a very persuasive argument for Tomic and it swayed me 180. Tomic mentally has given up hope and belief that he can beat the elites in a major. That is refreshingly honest and realistic. He's not deluding himself and he'd decided to enjoy his life on the tour instead of driving himself crazy with obsessions to be the best. I actually think there is some honor in this courageousness to confess it. Thanks to Wilander for helping us see this perspective. I cant believe in one interview by Wilander I have changed my opinion on Tomic. Apologize to Tomic fans and Tomic for being so harsh with this article.
britbox · July 6, 2017 at 9:36 am
I don't think he confessed that Scoop. He said he was bored and unmotivated and needed to recapture enjoyment of playing. His ridiculous comments re: Federer and Djokovic are shameful. He's not fit to carry the jock of either one of them.
catherine · July 6, 2017 at 9:38 am
catherine writes:
Scoop – Wilander often has a balanced view on things I find. Very intelligent guy and not afraid to go against the flow of opinion. I think that Kerber (skip this Dan) if she loses today, and she may well, might find a comparable relief in no longer being burdened with the strain of staying No 1 and all the criticism that seems to go with it, and rediscover enjoyment in playing. Let Simona or Pliskova try on No 1 for a while. Love all the stuff about flying ants – we're used to them here. They don't hurt you, but not a taste thrill to swallow 🙂
jg · July 6, 2017 at 9:46 am
jg writes:
Gulbis looking good, does anyone have a better backhand?
britbox · July 6, 2017 at 9:48 am
jg – How many fingers have you got?
kskate2 · July 6, 2017 at 9:50 am
I get it Andrew. He doesn't like his job very much. That's most of society. You either grin and bear it or hit the want ads. People who go on Facebook and other social media outlets to bash their employers soon find themselves out of work. This stunt in the press conference is no different. I'm glad they gave him a $15,000 fine. If he's so bored and doesn't want to be out there, then don't play. Go to beach, the club or wherever you get your jollies and leave the tennis court for serious people who actually want to play.
Scoop Malinowski · July 6, 2017 at 9:56 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Agree on that Britbox, asking Fed to return his prize money is implying he tanked or was aided by tanking. That is the only explanation I can think of for Tomic to have injected Federer's name into that discussion. Very weird. Tomic seemed to be all in on going for it at US Open last year as Hewitt was on the practice court with him on his side and he practiced with Kyrgios on Armstrong on the Thursday afternoon during qualies. Since then Tomic has managed to alienate himself from Hewitt and Nick. It would be very interesting to learn the inside dynamics of what really happened between Tomic and Hewitt/Kyrgios who both apparenly want nothing to do with Tomic. Tomic has been left off the Davis Cup team for the last over half year.
Scoop Malinowski · July 6, 2017 at 10:00 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
DUDI SELA IS A WARRIOR. Just won fourth set vs Isner 76 57 67 76 type scores. It's going five. If Tomic had half of Sela's heart he'd be top five.
Scoop Malinowski · July 6, 2017 at 10:01 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Holy Smokes; Gulbis just won the second set vs Delpotro. You cannot be serious. Gulbis is back! after about two years in oblivion.
Scoop Malinowski · July 6, 2017 at 10:02 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Look at the Tomic Biofile I just posted on homepage. Tomic actually answers the question: Why do you love tennis? So it is documented officially that he does love tennis.
catherine · July 6, 2017 at 10:20 am
catherine writes:
I put a lot of the blame for Tomic's situation on pressure from his father – I recall Tomic Snr quoted as saying, when Bernie was 18/19, that he'd win multiple GS and I'm sure he conveyed that wish to his son on a frequent basis. Aust journalists were never too enamoured of Mr Tomic.
Jimmy the Gent · July 6, 2017 at 10:40 am
Jimmy the Gent writes:
down goes isner !!….at the end of the day – isner sucks….with that serve, etc. – should be more formidable esp. on grass….allllez dude !! gulbis will win wimby !! (…not LOL)
Andrew Miller · July 6, 2017 at 10:57 am
Andrew Miller writes:
Wow, Isner gone! And del potro…going home? Gulbis way up
Andrew Miller · July 6, 2017 at 10:58 am
Can Harrison ko Berdych? Today matters
Andrew Miller · July 6, 2017 at 10:58 am
Andrew Miller writes:
Women's side looks like seeds ok.
Andrew Miller · July 6, 2017 at 11:03 am
Andrew Miller writes:
Yeah Tomic doesn't like his job. That's not the issue. It's that he hasn't matured to either accept it or move on. It's not uncommon. I hate tanking and grill Coric on this site for it. But if Coric rededicates himself I'll cheer him on. Same with Tomic.
Andrew Miller · July 6, 2017 at 11:08 am
Andrew Miller writes:
There have been many champions with odd tennis parents, over bearing, demanding, braggers etc. To me surprising Agassi doesn't invite a call from Tomic. Agassi and Djokovic have a lot in common with their games but not their families. But Agassi and Tomic have that.
Scoop Malinowski · July 6, 2017 at 11:08 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Isner actually looked very good in the first two rounds Jim. Sela is just a warrior. Great player. Pound for pound inch for inch maybe the best. He has played the tall big servers close in the past. Just a very uncanny and dangerous player. For those who know how deceptively good Sela is.