Two years after his last appearance, Australian tennis prodigy Bernard Tomic returns to the Australian Open, the Grand Slam of his country. Last year, he failed to qualify. After a year to forget, not only because of his poor results, but also because of his controversies.
Tomic: The Australian Tennis Prodigy
Tomic may not be as well-known as his compatriot Nick Kyrgios, but he reached the #17 position of the ATP Rankings in 2016 and has won four ATP titles in his career. The Aussie was a very successful player in his early years. He was the youngest player in the Open Era to win the Australian Open Juniors and he ascended to the #27 spot in the rankings when he was only 19 years old. In 2011, he reached the quarterfinals in Wimbledon, where he was defeated in four sets by Novak Djokovic.
The Australian had a great future in front but he never made that big step to be considered one of the best players in the world. 2015 was probably the best year of his career when he ended #18 in the ATP Rankings and won a second title in Bogotà. His last title was in Chengdu back in 2018, and since then, his form slumped and dropped out of the Top 100 in 2019.
But why did Tomic not meet the expectations? Why did his level drop so heavily after 2018, forcing him to play minor tournaments? He was out of form and unmotivated. He had big service and great shots, but his mind wasn’t focused on tennis to enter into the Top 10.
Tomic: A Controversial Player and Environment
The Aussie has been involved in some controversies on and off court during all his career:
- 2009: He refuses to practice with Lleyton Hewitt. According to the words of his agent, Hewitt was “not good enough.” Back then Tomic was ranked #354.
- 2012: He is penalized three times due to traffic infringements while driving on Australia Day.
- 2012: He is dropped from the Australian team for the Davis Cup due to his lack of effort.
- 2013: His father is banned from the ATP World Tour for twelve months after breaking the nose of his son’s hitting partner.
- 2015: He was arrested in Miami after a late-night party. All charges were dropped later.
- 2016: He verbally abuses a spectator after presumedly being “taunted” during the US Open first round.
- 2017: He is fined by the ATP for his behavior during the Wimbledon first round. The Australian admitted he called for the trainer although he wasn’t injured. It was only to disrupt Mischa Zverev’s momentum.
- 2019: He is penalized by the ATP for his lack of competitiveness during his first-round match against Jo Wilfred Tsonga. He was defeated in just 58 minutes of play.
Bernard Tomic returns to the Australian Open
Bernard Tomic struggled to qualify for the Australian Open, but he did it. There was a bit of hope to see him playing again at a good level. However, last week he withdrew from the Great Ocean Road Open due to a knee injury and the controversy broke out after he published a video playing basketball some moments before his match.
It’s also true that he is not doing any big effort in that video, so let’s hope he leaves all these controversies behind and dedicates himself to tennis. It would be a pleasure to watch his best version on the court again.
Main Photo from Getty.
