WALEED Aly has come to the defence of Bernard Tomic, following his first-round capitulation at Wimbledon.
Tomic has quickly become public enemy number one after his comments in his post-match press conference after crashing out of Wimbledon in straight sets to Mischa Zverev.
The tennis ace said he was bored with tennis and admitted to feigning injury in his opening round clash with the German.
He’s already been widely condemned for those actions and now the young Australian has poured fuel on the fire, saying the reason people didn’t like him because they were jealous he was living the life that they were unable to.
“You probably don’t like me but, at only 24, you guys can only dream about having what I have at 24,” Tomic told Herald Sun.
“End of the day, don’t like me or whatever. Just go back dreaming about your dream car or house while I go buy them.”
Tomic has been criticised for his lack of effort against Zverev but Waleed Aly defended the controversial Australian tennis star, saying despite his disinterest in tennis, he still attempted to compete.
Waleed Aly.Source:Channel 10
While his attitude may rub most people that wrong way, Tomic hasn’t done anything wrong by the rule book.
“He’s allowed to be bored. Not a breach of the rules,” Aly said on ABC’s Offsidersprogram.
“I barrack for a football team that didn’t turn up last night. That happens in sport — because you’re not mentally there or not as committed to the cause as you might otherwise be, or as others think you should be.
“Coming after that game, and the way I heard his comments, it just wasn’t working. The explanation for why it wasn’t working — ‘I’m a bit bored and I just don’t care about what the results are’.”
Aly believes that Tomic has immense natural talent and he is benefiting from playing on the lucrative level of world tennis, but concedes he’s doomed to never realising his potential with such an attitude.
“If he’s good enough, even without putting in 100 per cent all the time, to be there and earn that money, he’s an audaciously talented person who will never achieve much.”
There’s been calls for Tomic to walk away from the game, given his disinterest, but Aly says Tomic will continue for one reason alone.
“Because he can’t make as much money doing something else,” Aly said.
His objective is to collect a pay cheque. Mission accomplished. He’s turning up. He’s ambivalent towards it.”
While Aly was understanding, former rugby league star Adam MacDougall wasn’t.
MacDougall criticised Tomic for his attitude on Nine’s Sports Sunday program, saying he felt sadness for the young star.
‘He’s carrying on like a dick isn’t he,” MacDougall said.
“There’s no other way to put it, it’s very un-Australian. It’s very disappointing.
“I feel quite sad for the guy to be honest with you. He’s got all this materialistic wealth, but he’s miserable.”
TOPIC UNDER FIRE FROM FAMILY
Even John Tomic is reportedly ashamed of his son Bernard’s Wimbledon performance.
Tomic has lost his racquet sponsor and been fined $US15,000 ($A19,700) for saying he was “a little bit bored” during his 6-4 6-3 6-4 loss to Mischa Zverev and that he no longer respected tennis enough or cared how he fared at the grand slams.
Bernard Tomic in action.Source:Supplied
The 24-year-old Tomic — who feigned injury to take a strategic medical time-out during his first-round exit — has been roundly condemned for his conduct and now even his father and former long-time coach has called out his behaviour.
“He’s my son, I love him, but I’m ashamed at how he’s approaching his business — it’s not good what he’s doing,” John Tomic told the Herald Sun.
“You have to have respect and follow the rules. You have to work hard. You have to put in 100 per cent and challenge yourself.”
Tennis player Bernard Tomic's father and coach John Tomic.Source:News Corp Australia
But the one-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist Tomic and now world No. 59 said he deserves everything he earns.
“I worked 10 hours a day with my father, having no money in our life from the age of eight to 15,” Tomic said.
“We were driving a $500 car to now having millions and earning millions at 24, having houses all over the world.”
THE ONLY WAY TO DEAL WITH TOPIC
There is only one way to treat petulant players, such as Australia’s Bernard Tomic, who call for a medical time out to treat a fake injury — expose them to public humiliation.
That is the theory of Bill Norris, the ATP’s former Director of Medical Services, who spent 35 years patching up the broken and sore bodies of top players from Ken Rosewall and Arthur Ashe to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Tomic was fined $15,000 by the International Tennis Federation on Thursday after admitting he was “bored” and had faked an injury during a listless first-round defeat at Wimbledon.
“This young man (Tomic) not trying in his match at Wimbledon is not a good thing,” Norris said.
“If I got called out to court (and realised) some guy just wants to buy time, it is gamesmanship.
“I would say it out really loud so that the umpire and spectators could hear and say (to the player): ‘You called me out for this? That’s very unfair of you and it’s unfair to your opponent’.
“So I would embarrass the player.”
Norris felt that the rapport he had built up with the players allowed him to read them the riot act if they “misbehaved”.
“Over 35 years I had a unique relationship with the players. They were all like my children. And when they misbehaved, I would call them on it,” said Norris.
“That guy who has faked an injury, after the match he will have to face his peers in the locker room. He will have to face me. And they didn’t like that
“Hopefully the fine will set Tomic straight and he will not do that again. It’s certainly a lack of professionalism.” So how often did he get called out to treat fake injuries?
“Very little. Very low per cent of players have tried that.”
Bernard Tomic.Source:AFP
In contrast to Tomic, the worst injury seen this week at Wimbledon occurred mid match.
American Bethanie Mattek-Sands howled in agony after she slipped and suffered a horrific knee injury during a second-round match.
Norris, however, has seen worse.
“In 1975 New Zealander Jeff Simpson was playing doubles in an indoor tournament on carpet. He was playing at the net and he caught a smash into his neck,” recalled Norris.
“The impact of that ball that hit Jeff’s neck threw him to the ground. When he fell, he hit his head and had a concussion. It also triggered a convulsion.
“Luckily I have a lot of emergency medical experience so I was able to resuscitate him and revive him.”
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