Bernard Tomic

[Lucas]

SEND IN YOUR QUESTIONS AS TOMIC TAKES OVER ATP INSIDER

Spoiler:

Who better to guest edit the ATP Insider in the month of January than Australia's Bernard Tomic?

The 22-year-old Gold Coast native is the latest player to take over the ATP's weekly e-zine, taking you behind the scenes on the ATP World Tour.

As well as conducting an exclusive interview with a special guest, Bernard will be going through his editor's mailbag to answer questions from the fans. That's where you come in. This is your chance to ask Bernard whatever you like!

Send in your best questions for Bernard on Facebook and Twitter, using #AskTomic, and then tune in for his special edition takeover of the ATP Insider later this month to see what he says. Keep them fun!



Tomic follows in the footsteps of Tomas Berdych, Vasek Pospisil, John Isner, Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov and Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan as Guest Editors of the ATP Insider.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis ... eview.aspx

[grzes430]

Bernie withstands the barrage

Spoiler:

Bernard Tomic didn’t feel like he played a tennis match on Friday night, but what he did against the booming serve of Sam Groth was plenty good enough for a fourth-round berth.

By Dan Imhoff | Friday, 23 January, 2015Share |

Bernard Tomic v Sam Groth highlights (3R)Bernard TomicSam GrothSam GrothView Gallery
It’s hardly time to wheel out the walking frame, but 22-year-old Bernard Tomic thinks he’s getting a bit long in the tooth.

Much has been expected of this mercurial talent since he claimed the Junior Australian Open title in 2008; his career has been on an up-and-down trajectory since.

In an all-Australian battle with Sam Groth on Friday night, Tomic showed enough to suggest he is finally on the right path to living up to that potential with a straight-sets result and a berth in the fourth round of Australian Open 2015.

“I feel old. I feel like 30, but I’m only 22. Maybe it’s because I’ve been around for a while,” he joked after the 6-4 7-6(8) 6-3 victory over Groth at Hisense Arena.

This was a match that was never going to be about long, searching baseline rallies.

Tomic and Groth had met once before in a lowly Challenger event in Burnie, Tasmania, four years ago where Tomic won in straight sets. But that mattered little on Friday.

Both players are competent volleyers, but in the end it was only ever going to boil down to the Groth serve – the fastest on tour – and how many returns Tomic could get a racquet to.

Both were going to rely on gaining the upper hand in the points early.

Groth started the more nervous of the two, dropping serve early and never recovered the break; Tomic sealing the opener when his 27-year-old opponent pushed long.

From 0-30 down, Groth survived a struggle on serve to hold with three aces early in the second.

It was the only deuce game of the set, with the inevitable tiebreak in a match featuring the big-serving Groth arising.

Both players surrendered a set point on serve in the tiebreak with a double fault, but it was Tomic who would secure the pivotal tiebreak when Groth sent the ball long off the serve.

Tomic broke for 3-1 in the third, and went on to close the match out with back-to-back unreturnable serves.

“I didn't play that good, but I won,” Tomic said.

“It was like try and get the serve back. I was getting the return back pretty good. I was happy. It was not tennis. I would love to play tennis today, but he was serving well. So it was just like return, get the return back, and then after we see.”

The 22-year-old Gold Coaster may have been downplaying what he brought to the table, but his victim saw enough to suggest Tomic’s fourth-round opponent Tomas Berdych is in for one hell of a fight.

“He's playing well. He's beating quality players. We all know how good Bernie is,” Groth said. “I think he's one of the best ball strikers. He's so talented … I know everyone talks about him being an unbelievable mover, but he reads the game so well. He's going to give Berdych a bit of trouble.”

Tomic, though, was all too aware he would be up against one of the most consistent-performing top 10 players of the past seven years in Berdych, a player who has reached the semifinals or better at all four slams.

“He’s been many, many years, last three or four years, inside the top six. It's not easy to play him. You have to serve well, use your opportunity when it comes. He hits the ball so fricking hard,” Tomic said.

The 29-year-old Berdych is making his 12th appearance at Melbourne Park, and looking to reach at least the quarterfinals for the fifth year running.

Try telling Berdych that Tomic is feeling old if the big Czech suffers his earliest defeat at Melbourne Park since 2010.

http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/news/artic ... rage_.html

[Lucas]

[DUN I LOVE]

Pokonując Viktora Troickiego w 2. rundzie turnieju w DB, Bernard osiągnął swoje 100. meczowe zwycięstwo w rozgrywkach najwyższego poziomu.

W piątek dołożył 101. Poważny tenisista.

[DUN I LOVE]

Indian Wells: pierwszy ćwierćfinał M1000.



22-letni Australijczyk kontynuuje bardzo równą formę na początku sezonu 2015. W nocy naszego czasu awansował do swojego pierwszego ćwierćfinału turnieju M1000. O półfinał Tomic powalczy z Novakiem Djokoviciem.

Bernard legitymuje się bilansem 19-6 w tym sezonie.

[Lucas]

Tomic Denies Kokkinakis, Reaches First Indian Wells QF

Spoiler:

In an Aussie showdown on Stadium 2, Bernard Tomic denied Thanasi Kokkinakis’ bid to become just the eighth teenager to reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals, defeating his 18-year-old compatriot 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Wednesday evening.

Tomic, who made 74 per cent of his first serves in the match, needed three match points to close out the two-hour contest.

"Obviously playing someone younger is not easy," said Tomic. "There were a lot of expectations tonight. It was not easy out there, the conditions were suiting him. He was going for it and playing with nothing to lose. Looking back to the way I was playing when I was 18 or 19, I was playing like that. Especially tonight I was happy I won."

At 22 years old, Tomic is making his own personal history in the desert. His win over No. 6 seed David Ferrer in the third round earned him his first ATP Masters 1000 fourth-round berth. He has now moved one step further, setting a meeting with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
"I'm ready to play anyone," said Tomic, who admitted to suffering from distracting wisdom tooth pain in recent weeks. "I am going to go out there believing I can win."

The current World No. 35 has reached the quarter-finals or better at five of the six tournaments he has contested this year, with his best showing a semi-final appearance in Delray Beach (l. to Young).

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis ... nakis.aspx

[Lucas]

Think Tank

Spoiler:

For long stretches over the past few years, Australian Bernard Tomic seemed bent on turning his career into a train wreck. After Tomic appeared to go into the tank in a second-round match with Andy Roddick at the 2012 U.S. Open, a fellow Aussie hung him with the nickname, “Tomic the Tank Engine” (a reference to the wildly popular children’s stories).

Ranking members of the Australian tennis establishment—men like Tony Roche, Pat Rafter, John Newcombe—as well as pundits and diehard fans vacillated between two poles, sometimes simultaneously. They felt a measure of sympathy for the gifted but seemingly confused, self-sabotaging youngster with the abusive, omnipresent father. They frequently experienced a comparable degree of disgust with his antics.

“Bernie” showed flashes of creative genius on the court, but his commitment was questionable, his motivations suspect, and he appeared to be doing his level best to impersonate a horse’s derriere off the court as well as on it. The youngster always seemed to find his way into the papers. The question that hovered on everyone’s lips: What would it take to get Tomic to man up?

The answer, it seems, was right in front of their noses. And it was something nobody could really engineer or bring to pass. What Tomic needed was for a couple of young Australians to pop onto the radar and play well enough for most Aussies to give up the fantasy that Tomic is the second coming of Rod Laver— a hope that only fueled Tomic’s ego. Two kids who could make everyone shrug and ask, “Bernie who?”

The best thing that has happened to Tomic has been the swift, almost overnight emergence of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis as potential impact players. By birthright, they are also Tomic’s rivals to the bragging rights to Australia. It may be the simplest of all forms of motivation.

It takes a lot to hurt a talented young guy with a whopping sense of entitlement, but Tomic certainly has been stung. At 22, he’s the oldest player in this gifted trio—and of sufficient age and seasoning to read the handwriting on the wall. Could anyone blame him for fidgeting? He’s also the Aussie youth who’s wasted the most time, and now has the most to prove, and the most to lose.

That was but one set of reasons why Tomic’s recent clash with Kokkinakis at Indian Wells loomed with such significance and motivated him to play with uncharacteristic ferocity and determination. Tomic, yelling and fist pumping all the way, won that fourth-round match in three tough sets. His comments afterward carried an interesting undercurrent of self-pity, as well a familiar vein of defiance.

“Obviously, playing someone younger is not easy,” Tomic told reporters. “There were a lot of expectations tonight. Was not easy out there. Conditions were suiting him. He was going for it and playing with nothing to lose. Looking back to the way I was playing when I was 18, 19, I was playing like that. . .I was happy I won. You know, I didn't play the way I should have maybe in that second to get up, but he was playing good.”

People, including their fellow players, have noticed how Kyrgios and Kokkanikis have Tomic rattled.

“He’s getting mentally more confident, more comfortable on the court,” Novak Djokovic said of Tomic before a quarterfinal showdown at Indian Wells (a match that never happened because a bad back and aching wisdom tooth caused Tomic to issue a walkover). “He has started to believe even more (in himself). Perhaps also the success of Kokkinakis and [Nick] Kyrgios motivated him to really get serious and work. The talent is there, the touch is there, he’s got a (tough) game.”

The game Tomic is inflicting on his opponents is a maddening one; if Djokovic runs you into exhaustion, Rafael Nadal bludgeons you into senselessness, and Roger Federer simply makes you go blind with his dazzling versatility, Tomic at his best uses razor sharp if by no means overpowering weapons to inflict so many small wounds his opponent slowly bleeds to death.

Although he’s a long and lean 6’5” with plenty of elasticity, Tomic relies far less on power than feel and improvisation. He’s expert at teasing errors out of opponents eager to jump on his slow-moving shots. His game is odd, almost eccentric, which is one of the reasons he attracted so much attention from such a young age. His style is more interesting than pretty, but on too many occasions Tomic’s indifference or foul mood has made his tennis appear simply ugly.

Tomic’s struggle with motivation has been career-defining. He isn’t overly imbued with what commonly passes for fighting spirit. He first signaled to the world at large that he might be a head case, or simply a troublesome character, in 2007. He was 15 at the time, “competing” in the French Open juniors. He put forth so poor an effort in a second-round loss at Roland Garros that furious Tennis Australia officials cut off his funding. He was obliged to return home and he was unable to return to play at Wimbledon.

Later, in 2009, Tomic also was suspended by the ITF for walking off the court in Perth during a Futures tournament match. Still later that year, he infuriated members of Aussie icon Lleyton Hewitt’s camp by blowing off a practice session because he felt the role model “wasn’t good enough.” And did you hear about the time Tomic was busted for illegally and recklessly driving his bright orange BMW M3 through the Gold Coast byways? Stopped three times in the same day, he uttered those six magical words that define celebrity noxiousness: “Do you know who I am?”

But the worst of it, and perhaps the only reason some apologists continued to support Tomic and plead for understanding, was Bernie’s relationship with his abusive father and coach, John. At the Miami Masters in 2012, Bernie asked the chair umpire to remove John—his own father—from the stadium. Bernie claimed John was “irritating” and distracting him.

Things went from bad to worse by May of 2013, at which time John Tomic attacked Bernie’s hitting partner, Thomas Drouet, leaving the Frenchman with stitches in a cut over an eye and a broken nose. During the subsequent news cycle, Drouet said that he had witnessed John Tomic striking his son during a practice session in Monte Carlo. As a result, John Tomic was then banned from ATP and ITF events for a year.

All the while, Tomic’s rankings fluctuated, sometimes wildly. He made his big breakthrough at Wimbledon in 2011, and by November of that year his ranking had climbed to No. 27. Since then, he’s been as low as No. 124 and as high as his present No. 29.

Tomic told reporters at Indian Wells that he’s fitter than ever but humbly added that he “still has a long way to go.” Since he suddenly found religion, Tomic enthusiastically declared that he still has “a lot of areas that I can work on.”

A skeptic might be moved to ask, “Can this last?”

In that regard, the Davis Cup situation may be germane. Australian fans and pundits hold the competition in the highest regard; playing in it is a national obligation. Hewitt, Rafter, and other Aussie Davis Cup stalwarts have worked hard to instill the trademark, gung-ho Australian Davis Cup spirit in Tomic. All three young men (Kyrgios, Kokkinakis, Tomic) will be under a lot of pressure to behave like true-blue Aussies.

“Obviously we have good futures, all of us,” Kokkinakis said at Indian Wells. “We have definitely a real positive Davis Cup team to build around in the future. Yeah, we are all real different people. We are very different, I would say, all of us, and we will keep working hard and see how good we can be.”

The operative word in Kokkinakis’ comments is “different.” Tomic has a long history as a self-absorbed lone wolf; it will be interesting to see how he handles those differences, especially if his young friends and rivals make better use of their next two or three years than Tomic did with last four or five.

Right now, Tomic is saying all the right things.

“You work so hard being a tennis player and wanting to achieve a lot of things, and I realized in the last sort of year that I have to use these next six, seven years and achieve as much as I can. I feel very good on court and I feel like I can match these guys (Djokovic et al), but maybe at times I wasn't putting in the right concentration. Now this year has been amazing for me, and I'm going to keep going.”

And even if Tomic is seized by a desire to let it all go, like he’s often done in the past, he now has two other reasons not to chuck it all and go hang around the nightclubs of Gold Coast. I think he knows as well as we do what those two reasons are.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/03/ ... Ra9x442dfC

[DUN I LOVE]

Po blisko 3 latach tułaczki Bernard wrócił na 27. miejsce w rankingu ATP (czyt. wyrównał swój najlepszy ranking z 11.06.2012).

[bogdan1978]

13.04.2015

Najwyższa pozycja w karierze: 26

[Lucas]

Bernard Tomic to get Cortisone Injection

Spoiler:

Bernard Tomic lost a marathon battle against fellow countryman Thanasi Kokkinakis as he let the match slip from his hand in an enduring five setter second round match here in Roland Garros -- 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 8-6.
ADVERTISEMENT

Clay isn’t Tomic’s best surface, however he managed to take an early lead over Kokkinakis. Yet, his teen opponent left no stone unturned, converting every opportunities to change the course of the match. In the fifth and final set, Tomic failed to capitalise on a 5-2 lead, instead played a clumsy game, letting his opponent make use of his vulnerability.

In a post match interview, Tomic told the press that he was not completely fit, and was playing with a bad pain on his lower back, something which requires treatment so that he can be fit ahead of Wimbledon.

“I need to get a few injections on my back, which probably I’ve never done before. This has been pestering me for the last few months, and I played with it surprisingly. I’m gonna get the injection hoping that the problem will go away,” Tomic said.

“I won’t be playing for at least 3-4 days. I have to talk with the ATP and my physios regarding the injection since I haven’t had it before,” Tomic clarified

The injection is called cortisone, an anti-inflammatory drug which is normally given to relieve pain. Andre Agassi had to take the same to fight the excruciating back pain he had been dealing for years when he was active on the tour.

Tomic however, sounded optimistic about his future prospects, especially WImbledon, where he has had a good record compared to the other slams.

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/-Bernard- ... 24177.html

[Lucas]

[bogdan1978]

08.06.2015

Najwyższa pozycja w karierze: 24

[DUN I LOVE]

Tomic podobno został aresztowany w Miami za zakłócanie ciszy nocnej w hotelu.

Kretyn.

[robpal]

Tak, został. Zdjęcie z posterunku:



A miał nie pić, póki nie wygra Szlema

[grzes430]

Może wygrał w Tennis Elbow?

[TadX]

Czasem się zastanawiam, co ludzie mają w głowach...

[Lucas]

Wimbledon 2015: Bernard Tomic speaks to the media following his 2-nd round 7‑6(3), 6‑4, 7‑6(5) victory over Pierre-Hugues Herbert

Spoiler:

Q. You had to grind that one out?

BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, it was not easy. Obviously his game is suited for this surface, so for me it was a very difficult match.

I thought I played okay. At the right times I played very well. Served very well.

You know, it was tough out there. It was not easy, not easy. He's a tricky player, so I'm very happy I won today.

Q. Did you need treatment at any stage and what was it?

BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, I was very dizzy out there. I didn't sleep well yesterday and the day before. Probably getting three or four hours of sleep. I was fatigued and starting to get dizzy out there with the heat hitting me.

It was tough, so I had to slow things down. I had to catch my breath. I had to serve that set out, which I did, but, you know, he had two break points and I played two good points on him.

It was not that easy, that situation for me in the second. I was feeling bad. Hopefully I can get a good night's sleep in tonight. I just haven't been sleeping well here. It's been too hot.

Q. Clearly you'll need a good night's sleep if you play Novak.

BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah. I'll need more than that (smiling).

Well, I will recover as much as I can from this match. Obviously he's the No. 1 player in the world. Against him, you have to go out with a different mindset and different belief. I have to serve very well to have any chance of winning.

Yeah, I have now tomorrow I can focus on the stuff I need to do. We will see. It's never easy.

Q. Four years ago you played him here. How much has changed in your game and what are your memories of that day?

BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, I can remember I was playing very good. He was No. 1 or 2, I think, at that time, as well. He did win Wimbledon after he beat me in the quarters.

You know, I have played many times against Novak. You know, I got the feel for him. We have practiced a lot of times, but that can mean nothing when you come on the court with him sometimes. He's a very good player.

I have to serve well if I have any chance of winning. I have to play my tennis, relax, and go for it, you know, really believe and really be in the moment I think and enjoy the match, I think.

Q. Can you take anything out of those matches in Perth and Kooyong, even though they are XOs?

BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, I think Hopman Cup was more of a match where I felt like he played pretty good. I was playing very good, serving at 84%. I think that's why I won.

Looking back to when I played him at Wimbledon, I was serving very well. I had him on the back foot in the third set, even 4‑1 up, I think, and I lost that 6‑4. I think I was 5‑4 in the fourth against him, a few points away to make the fifth set. I had chances.

Him on grass, for me I have more chance, but he's the best player in the world and it's a very tough match.

Q. I think he was on that big roll then, only lost one match for the year. Do you think he's at that same level now?

BERNARD TOMIC: I mean, if he's No. 1, he's obviously there for a reason. You know, what a player he is. But, you know, I know at my level, if I'm playing good on my day, I can beat him.

So I have to focus tomorrow, I have to prepare as much as I can, and, you know, have the belief out there.




Q. You mentioned the heat being an issue for you today. Would you be in favor of a male heat rule being brought in?

BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, I was actually talking about that in the locker room. It's a bit interesting how the women have a different rule applied to them with the heat, which is interesting.

I think ours is slightly different. I think we are allowed to play in more heat. Is it fair or not? Who am I to say? I don't know. It's a tough one.

Q. When you played Rafa a few years ago at the Aussie Open and Novak at Wimbledon, they seem to raise your game. You sort of had no choice but to really go for your shots. Do you feel that can help?

BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, I have to. If he's out there matching, I have to come out on this court against him and I have to believe I can win, go for my shots. That's when I play top 5, top 6 tennis. It's tough for anyone to play me, I guess, when I'm playing well.

I have to prepare as best I can to get an opportunity to play as well as I can against him. That's going to come down to me maybe winning this match or, you know, losing.

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/art ... round.html

[Lucas]

Wimbledon 2015: Bernard Tomic speaks to the media following his 3-rd round 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 defeat to Novak Djokovic

Spoiler:

Q. How was that for you?

BERNARD TOMIC: I played okay. He was playing very good. You know, it just shows you why he's the best. Those tough games, the score looked a lot closer than it was. It was very close in moments, but somehow in those big points he just gets that...

I can't even describe it in words. Too good, too good. To get to that level, you need to work hard.

Q. What lessons do you take away from the experience today?

BERNARD TOMIC: I learn a lot every time I play Novak. It's a great honor. That's why he's the best player in the world. Now it's at the stage where I am, to be 20 in the world or to be in the top 5, 6, I have to work hard, there is no doubt about it. That spot, top 4, 5 is a lot of work to do, but it's possible for me. But I need to work hard.

It just shows you what he can do on the court. That is, that I'm missing, obviously I would say I played the power game, served well, and obviously don't have the speed yet and anticipation and the balance, which I think nobody does have it like him.

Unfortunately I have to work to get a little bit better in that area. I felt it was close every game, but the score, he just killed me today.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, absolutely. If you can now play them in the fourth round, it would be better. Saw Nick today, played very good against Raonic. He played a good match, and now he has an opportunity to make another quarterfinal. He's, I think, playing against Gasquet.

It's that section of avoiding the top 8, which is very important. Now it's that step of me getting in that seeding so I can avoid these top players and maybe playing them in the fourth round.

I have got a good next four or five months where I can play well, and, you know, I'm looking forward to the next four months.

Q. How far do you think he can go here?

BERNARD TOMIC: I mean, he's a great guy, so I'd love him to do as best as he can. I want him to win this round. It's going to be tough because he's I think obviously played Richard and lost last time. He's obviously won here at Wimbledon where he won a lot of match points.

For him it's difficult because Richard is playing very well, but if he can make that third quarter, it's huge.

It will be interesting. A lot of people will get behind him. I want him to win against Gasquet it's going to be tough for sure. He needs to take what he learned last year into this match. For him to win after that, he can we relax and go for it. When he's relaxing and going for it, he's a good player.

Q. You have been hitting with him. What's it been like?

BERNARD TOMIC: Oh, man, I think Nick and I are the same. We're strange, in different ways. He's a great kid. I love him a lot. We are good off court and we practice well.

Sometimes the practice is a bit unusual, you know. We are all serving aces and it's not even practice, you know. It's just go through the motions.

Q. You had a few sort of struggles. Is it a matter of Nick just winning to win over fans and winning matches and Australian public can be fickle at times?

BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, it can. But I think there is only so much that the fans can help you.

I mean, fans are not going to help you when you are playing Novak. They can help you a bit, but without the work and effort, you know, Novak has put in the last seven, eight years and all his career, you need to get to that level.

I think the crowd can help you, the support behind can help you a bit, but to beat these sort of players, you have to work hard.

Q. Is your schedule unchanged? Still go to Newport?

BERNARD TOMIC: There is some stuff I'd like to talk about. I was waiting for the right time. Now that Wimbledon is over for me, look, it's very interesting what's happened the last month.

I always wanted to play Davis Cup. I'm going to. I'm going to go down there and play for the respect of Davis Cup, for the respect of the Australian public, for myself, and mainly for the respect of, you know, Lleyton and the team.

You know, it's interesting what's happened the last week that Nick wasn't going to play, as well. You know, I was not going to play. He said, If you don't play, I don't play.

It was interesting now looking at this, we are in the quarterfinals of a stage, and, you know, we are sort of about to pull the pin. There is a lot of stuff that's involved now that I'm very disappointed in which I'd like to talk to you guys about.

Personally inside it's been very difficult for me the last year or so in the Tennis Australia group. So it's interesting how it's changed. You know, obviously people and all, and Pat, obviously the problems, people think I'm at war with Pat Rafter. It's not true.

Pat is a nice guy. If the Australian public don't know Pat, he's a good actor, he's well-spoken, always prepared and knows what to say. He's prepped by Tennis Australia to know what to say.

He's always ready to fire back questions that we answer to. You know, behind that I think very disappointed in Craig Tiley in Tennis Australia. He's the reason the last few years, it's been up and down for me. There has been no lack of support towards me. There has been no respect I think towards me.

It's been difficult, you know, been good player the last three, four years coming up, and, you know, people expecting a lot from you. All of a sudden, things started changing after I had that surgery. You know, I didn't get one phone call from Tennis Australia, Can we help you, Bernard? Can we do this? Do you need something? You know, Can we give you something?

Nothing. No phone calls were there.

You know, I was on my own and felt really bad to such a high level as Tennis Australia, who supported me along the way very good.

You know, don't get me wrong. From what Pat said, a lot of money was invested in me, for sure. But whatever they invested in me, they got in return 10, 20 times more. That's 100% certain.

Now all of a sudden, they are neglecting me, for some reason. They are not supporting me, not respecting me. I give you an example. I will ask you a question, Darren. This year before Brisbane, 10 days before Brisbane, the rains started on the Gold Coast. I went to Royal Pines, which is an undercover court to practice. Got a call from Tennis Australia, You have to pay for your own courts.

Now, I thought it was funny. You know, okay, okay, I paid the court, no problem.

So rains started again. Maybe I go up to Pat Rafter Arena and practice there. Went up there, organized. 10 days before, nine days before. Practice and stuff. Guy coming to me, You have to pay the court and balls.

Do you think that's fair? Honestly, Darren?

Q. Probably not. Certainly not at Pat Rafter Arena.

BERNARD TOMIC: Certainly not. That's where things started changing. I couldn't believe it. I took the receipt. Whose information was it through Tennis Australia? Pat and Craig.

What's going on? Where is the support? How can you do this?

It's not about the money. It's about the respect. It's like...

Meanwhile, we are buying these players overseas, doing this, doing that, buying players instead of supporting us, junior players, giving them something, or stuff like me, I have to pay for a court? In Australia, how is that possible? You understand.

Now, why I have to play Davis Cup for these people and administration down there, Tiley and these guys. Ever since he came in, he knows how he got in. In a sneaky way he got his position and only he knows himself how he got this position. Everything started changing and stuff.

No one is mentioning him. He's doing a lot of stuff. They are holding so much money down there, and doing what they want, increasing their salary, this, that, giving Pat a salary, it's like saying, Here, Pat, here's a salary. He doesn't know what he's doing. They are giving him a budget. He doesn't know what he's doing.

What's his job? Deal with it, Pat. You're the mask. He's a mask for these guys, Craig and Steve. They don't want to deal with this. They give it to Pat. You do the work. You take care of this and that. He doesn't know what he's doing.

It's crazy. Meanwhile, he's charging me for balls. Charging me for balls and court at his own arena nine days before.

What's he doing? I don't understand. Where is the support? Where is the respect, you know? Why I have to play for them, for these guys, these sort of people? The respect and the attitude, they are starting...

I will play, I will play. I will go down. I have the respect for Lleyton. The respect for the legends, Tony Roche, Laver. Not for Tiley, not for these guys. I don't think what they are doing, it's not good at all.

Q. If Nick said he was going to play, would you have gone to Newport instead?

BERNARD TOMIC: I obviously had that wild card there. I wasn't sure really. It was tough times, you know. Obviously I did get that wild card. I'm going to say no to that. I'm going to go down there because I believe we can win. I believe we can get into that semifinal spot, potentially have a chance of making the final of Davis Cup.

But, you know, I love Davis Cup. I respect it from my heart. My record is 14 and 2 or 15 and 2. Probably a top two or three records the last three or four few years. I enjoy Davis Cup. I enjoy it so much.

Why? I don't understand. Like why now has it changed? It's really these guys in Tennis Australia, someone needs to go investigate them, what they are doing and where that money is going. It's horrible.


Where is the support towards me and my family? You know, what I mean? How much money they have made on me or this and that the last three or four years. You have to pay for the court.

Where is the respect? Hello? It's changed, guys. It's changing. People need to start investigating these guys down there.

Q. Have you told Newport yet, Bernie?

BERNARD TOMIC: No, I will call, though. I'm going to play Davis Cup because I want to win. I want to play for the likes of Lleyton and Nick. I want to win. I believe we can win.

But really, guys, you should be aware these guys down in Tennis Australia, Tiley, Healy, these guys, no one knows what they are doing, but they are doing not so good things.

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/art ... round.html

[Damian]

• Reigning Champ – Tomic made his Bogota debut last year ranked World No. 124 as he won his second career ATP World Tour title, posting third set tie-break wins over Estrella Burgos and Karlovic. This season, the 22-year-old Aussie has climbed to World No. 25 and compiled his most consistent season on the ATP World Tour. His best result was the semi-finals in Delray Beach (l. to Young) and six other quarter-finals, including the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells. At Wimbledon, he reached the third round (l. to eventual champion Djokovic). He has a 26-17 match record (equaling his ’12 career-high wins total), including 20-7 on hard courts.

[grzes430]

Tomic rejects Tennis Australia

Spoiler:

Bernard Tomic says he has no interest in holding clear-the-air talks with Tennis Australia until the governing body has resumed funding his sister, Sara.

The 22-year-old was excluded from the Davis Cup quarter-final against Kazakhstan after he launched a public attack on Tennis Australia (TA), who have withdrawn funding from both Tomics because of the uncooperative attitude of their father, John.

Australia won their quarter-final tie 3-2 to set up a last four clash with Great Britain and TA president Steve Healy appeared to extend an olive branch to the country’s No 1, offering talks to hammer out their differences.

However, Tomic, who was arrested in Miami last week after refusing to turn down music during a party at his hotel room, said there was no point.

"Until I am satisfied TA is committed to funding the development of junior Australian talent, including my sister Sara, on a non-discriminatory basis, I do not believe there is any point in meeting," he told the Herald Sun newspaper from Colombia, where he is competing at the Claro Open.

"I am always ready, willing and able to play for Australia. It is my honour and privilege to do so. I consider that I have a good record and it is my hope to continue to represent my country.

"Importantly, I would like to thank previous TA administrators for their financial support in the past. Current TA administrators sacked me from the Davis Cup for comments I made at Wimbledon. I stand by those comments."

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Australia needed veteran Lleyton Hewitt to rescue them from defeat against Kazakhstan in Darwin last weekend, with the 34-year-old replacing Thanasi Kokkinakis to clinch the deciding singles match.

Tomic, ranked 29th in the world, would undoubtedly be a boost to the Australia team when they travel to Britain to take on a team led by Andy Murray in September.

"I am always available for selection for Davis Cup. If TA select me, then great. If TA does not select me, then there's not too much I can do," Tomic added.

"Contrary to some self-serving reports, I am okay and strong. I have not hit rock bottom. Thank you for your continued support. I know I need to work harder."

Meanwhile, defending champion Tomic is through to the quarter-finals at the Claro Open in Bogota after he came from behind to beat Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 6-7 (5/7) 6-2 6-4.

http://www.sportinglife.com/tennis/news ... ive-branch