Bernard Tomic has slid down the rankings to 73 from a career-high 17. (Source: Reuters)
Troubled Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic admitted that he’s playing the sport just for the money and that he has no love for the game which has earned him millions at just 24. He also acknowledged that for him it is now a “job”.
In a frank interview that aired in Australia, Tomic told his fans to stay at home rather than paying to watch him play and buying tickets if they were not happy with his polarising on-court antics.
“Don’t come,” Tomic said in the interview that aired on Sunday. “Just watch on TV, you don’t have to pay anything.”
Tomic, who recently toyed with the line of fire after admitting in his first round defeat against Mischa Zverev at Wimbledon that he was “bored”. Thereafter he was handed a $15,000 fine for “unsportsmanlike conduct”. He admitted that he goes between full commitment and apathy on court. “Throughout my career I’ve given 100 percent. I’ve also given 30 percent. But if you balance it out, I think all my career’s been around 50 percent,” said Tomic, who is now ranked 73rd in the world from his once career high of 17. “I haven’t really tried, and (still) achieved all this. So it’s just amazing what I’ve done.”
When queried what advice he had to for aspiring tennis players, he didn’t mince words and suggested players stay away. “Don’t play tennis. Do something you love and enjoy, because it’s a grind, and it’s a tough, tough, tough life. My position, I’m trapped. I have to do it,” he said. “Tennis chose me. It’s something I never fell in love with. You know, I like it.”
He chose not to apologise for his statement made at the All England Club which was slammed by many within the tennis community and other Australian sportspersons. “I don’t regret what I said. That’s why I said it to piss a few people off,” he said. “I didn’t come from a rich family. We had no money. And now living in all these lavish houses and property around the world, it’s my choice. It’s something that I’ve worked for.”
Following his controversial comments at Wimbledon, besides the cash fine, he also lost his racquet sponsor Head just hours later.
