Remember the other day how I was lambasting Bernard Tomic for his bad attitude? Well, today Daddy Tomic (aka John) has come out and apologised for his actions in Sorrento. The plot thickens...
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I'm not exactly what Daddy Tomic did, but it resulted in Bernard defaulting his match - or so it seems we are to believe. Here is a snippet of what Daddy Tomic said:
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“I apologise to the Perth officials, to Tennis Australia, to our friends, sponsors and tennis fans and especially to my son. I was wrong. I am a father who wants the best in the world for my children. I realise that my actions have actually hurt my son. That hurts me deeply and I want to correct the situation, which is why I am fronting here today to apologise without reservation.”
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Okay, firstly, kudos for having the balls to apologise. That takes chutzpah. But seriously - on what planet did it seem like it was a good idea for Bernard to default a match for no good reason? Was he pissed? That's some serious error in judgment. I've said it in regards to Djokovic numerous times and I will not hesitate to say it again: you cannot retire yourself to #1. Look at Federer, greatest of all time. How many times has he retired on the senior circuit? That would be NONE, bitches! He retired once in juniors - here's hoping that this is Bernard' once.
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But Bernard, seriously... there's all this talk about being a rebellious team and not listening to your hitting partners and suchlike - why did you pick this time to listen to an authority figure? Play your own game, kid - and don't retire unless you have genuinely broken your leg or something. It is just not cricket. Looming in the not-so-distant tennis past of Australia, there is the ultimate evil tennis parent, the Damir. Please, Bernard, don't let yourself become Jelena Dokic mk 2! Sure, Daddy Tomic seems to have more sense than Damir - Damir would never have apologised - but what the hell was he doing getting so involved anyway? If Bernard Tomic is going to become a great champion - and he certainly has the potential - then he needs to do it on his own.
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Well it happened as most of the Australian tennis community felt that it would. John Tomic was told to make a public apology and now we are to believe that all will be ok with the world.
John Tomic is laughing at Tennis Australia. Craig Tiley’s comments that if John Tomic steps out of line again there will be “harsher discipline”. This comment has been made as if this is the first time that Tomic has stepped out of line!
Tennis Australia seems to have forgotten (or maybe wants to cover up) the incident of the alleged attempted hitting of a coach in Europe or what about the alleged attempt to ram a car with two coaches and an athlete in it! The joke is that since Bernard was a youngster stories of his father’s harassment, bullying and aggressiveness to other competitors have been widespread.
Sure John Tomic is visible – he makes himself visible through his antics. Sure he is passionate – we are all passionate about our children and their tennis – why him more so than others? Do we then condone his behaviour? Why does Tennis Australia continually excuse this man and let him get away with it? This question has been asked by parents for years. Leo Schlink's comment that he “will learn from Perth, will be told it cannot happen again and, if he is smart, will pull his head in” is laughable. Are you kidding?
What is continually overlooked because of the Tomic publicity machine is that ALL the players – and let’s not forget that many of them are also Australian players - have a dream to be the best. They are ALL out there competing their hearts out.
Tell me – would you, as a parent, default your child from a match because his opponent was perceived to be foot-faulting?! Tell me that was not an irrational response. The truth is that Bernard was on his way to losing the match (6-2 3-1 Def) pure and simple. His opponent Matosevic is 23 years old and ranked 323 ATP and was the number 5 seed and obviously on that day, and at that time, was the better player who eventually went on to win the tournament.
The comments that John Tomic makes regarding the umpires and the rigging of the draws deliberately against his son are laughable. At the end of the day, in any tournament you have to beat all that come before you as Matosevic did.
For years the publicity machine for Bernard Tomic has been in overdrive. And there is no doubt, that his prodigious talent and early success have delivered him with rewards from sponsors and Tennis Australia that most of the other players at that age could only ever dream about.
It is hard to feel that Bernard is being unfairly treated – one only has to compare the publicity that our very own Australian player Brydan Klein received when he won the Australian Open Juniors in 2007– the very same tournament that Bernard Tomic won in 2008 – it would be interesting to know how many people have ever even heard of Brydan Klein!
There is no doubt that tennis parents cop a bad rap sometimes – but sometimes – they deserve it.
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