How to prepare for a grand slam: Bernard Tomic puffs on a shisha pipe ahead of his Australian Open clash – just days after infuriating fans with a 'lousy' underarm serve on match point

  • Australian tennis 'bad boy' Bernard Tomic has been spotted puffing on shisha
  • On Saturday night, a number of fans spotted Tomic at venue Shisha Palace
  • Serena Williams has since shared a photo training with the Aussie 'bad boy'

By Brittany Chain For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 21:27 EST, 13 January 2019 | Updated: 21:27 EST, 13 January 2019

Australian tennis 'bad boy' Bernard Tomic has turned heads after being spotted puffing on a shisha pipe just days out from the Australian Open.

On Saturday night, a number of fans saw Tomic celebrating with friends during a ticketed party at Shisha Palace in Melbourne's Roxburgh Park.

The 26-year-old - whose ranking has slipped to 85th in the world - seemed happy to kick back in a private booth while enjoying a live musical performance.

Some fans were less than impressed with Tomic's preparation, pointing out that on Monday night he will be taking on last year's runner-up - Croatian giant Marin Cilic. 

The mercurial tennis talent sparked further outrage last week after playing a 'lousy' underarm serve on match point during an exhibition match with Nick Kyrgios. 

Australian tennis 'bad boy' Bernard Tomic has turned heads after he was spotted puffing on a shisha pipe just days out from the Australian Open

Australian tennis 'bad boy' Bernard Tomic has turned heads after he was spotted puffing on a shisha pipe just days out from the Australian Open

In one image, Tomic posed among three other men - two of which had their arms around him - in one of the booths within the venue

In one image, Tomic posed among three other men - two of which had their arms around him - in one of the booths within the venue

Hundreds of paying spectators took to social media to ridicule Tomic after he delivered the underarm, through-the-legs serve to an unwitting Kyrgios.

Kyrgios and the stadium took a couple of moments to process the serve before the umpire said 'game,' to which Kyrgios simply laughed and shook his head.    

'@KooyongClassic I feel sorry for the people who paid good money to watch these two fools play today. #kyrgios #tomic' one person tweeted.

Another Twitter user replied: 'Absolutely agreed. Pathetic display and lousy approach by #Tomic for final serve of the match. Should be fined.'

One Twitter user argued the point should have been handed to Kyrgios.

'Technically that should be Nicks point as Bernard bounces another ball before the point was over,' they wrote.

'Just like if a ball falls out of a pocket mid-point. Bloody cheeky though, gotta love that!'

As Tomic bent forward to begin bouncing one of the balls he craftily delivered an under-arm through-the-legs serve to Kyrgios

As Tomic bent forward to begin bouncing one of the balls he craftily delivered an under-arm through-the-legs serve to Kyrgios

Tomic (left), 26, comfortably beat Kyrgios, 23, (right) 6-3, 6-4 in the match which was labelled as 'absolute joke' by fans 

Tomic (left), 26, comfortably beat Kyrgios, 23, (right) 6-3, 6-4 in the match which was labelled as 'absolute joke' by fans 

Later in the night, another group of men took to Snapchat to share an image of Tomic with the shisha in his mouth

Later in the night, another group of men took to Snapchat to share an image of Tomic with the shisha in his mouth

Tomic will play Marin Cilic on Monday night at the Australian Open. 

It will be the first time Tomic will take centre stage since social media users lashed out at him over the Kyrgios game.

The last time Tomic made it past the fourth round of a grand slam was in 2011, when he lost in four sets to current world number one Novak Djokovic. 

Outrage has since followed the incident with social media users sharing their disgust at Tomic for his brazen move

Outrage has since followed the incident with social media users sharing their disgust at Tomic for his brazen move

 

One Twitter user labelled the show as a 'pathetic display' and called for him to face penalty 

One Twitter user labelled the show as a 'pathetic display' and called for him to face penalty 

The underarm serve: What do the rules say? 

Underarm serves are rare but legal.

As long as Tomic hit the ball before it bounced, his serve was legitimate.

Here is what the official ITF rule book says:

'Immediately before starting the service motion, the server shall stand at rest with both feet behind (i.e. further from the net than) the baseline and within the imaginary extensions of the centre mark and the sideline. 

'The server shall then release the ball by hand in any direction and hit the ball with the racket before the ball hits the ground. The service motion is completed at the moment that the player's racket hits or misses the ball.'

There is some debate about whether Tomic hindered Kyrios by dropping a second ball after his cheeky serve - but the Umpire did not think so.

The rule states: 'If a player is hindered in playing the point by a deliberate act of the opponent(s), the player shall win the point.'

Advertisement

How to prepare for a grand slam: Bernard Tomic puffs shisha pipe just days before Australian Open

Comments 1

Share what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

What's This?

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.