Daddy Dearest

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.

Lucky Star

And so the last, LAST event of the year has finished, with the Pro circuit event in Sorrento wrapping up. I can't say I am too familiar with the people that won - Marinko Matosevic in the men's and Olivia Rogowska in the women's. I don't have too much more to say about that, except that this Matosevic character has apparently won four Pro circuit titles this year... maybe he'll graduate to Futures or even Challengers at some stage. He is exactly four years younger than Roger Federer... I suppose you could say he was thus born under a tennis lucky star.

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And how about Cedric Pioline? Knocking out Pete Sampras - God, I bet that felt sweet, though I'm sure he would have preferred to have done it a little earlier in his career! - then going on to beat Greg Rusedski for his first seniors tour title. I confess I don't follow the seniors tour very much, which I suppose is a shame, because it looks kind of interesting... actually, Jonas Bjorkman said when he retired that he'd played on the regular tour for so long he could go straight on the seniors tour. Ah, Jonas...

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So what is the point of the seniors tour, exactly? Is it just a chance to set up epic grudgematches, like the Sampras/Pioline rematch? How serious is it? Is it just a group of old guys kicking around having fun or do they really get down and dirty?

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I would like to note that I exempt John McEnroe from this question. He would get down and dirty with anyone, anywhere, anytime...

Hotel Sorrento

Pete Sampras. Cedric Pioline. Could be epic. Here's hoping it is. I'd like to see Pioline avenge his Slam losses, but I'm backing Pistol Pete on this one. Just a feeling.

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Anyway, we're not talking about Pete and le Ced today. No, it's back to local homegrown Aussie tennis and what is apparently the last Pro circuit event of the year, the tournie in Sorrento. Quality tournament, they say... but that doesn't mean people will have heard of most of the guys. Ah, Aussie tennis.

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What is disturbing me is that at least half of Australia's Davis Cup team is playing this tournament - a tournament on a circuit so low I hadn't even heard of its existence until a few months ago. Top seed and hot favourite is Brydan Klein, then second seed is Sam Groth. Marinko Matosevic defeated Bernard Tomic today, who retired after what one presumes was an injury and hopes wasn't a temper tantrum... I've heard he's prone. There's our Davis Cup team, pretty much. Oh dear.

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That said, here's hoping Brydan or Sam can win this one... though I'm liking the form of our old man Andrew Coelho, who pulled that good win the other week in Perth. Maybe he can join team Davis Cup next year when we play our (next) relegation tie?

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...remember when we used to win Davis Cup?

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Bernard will save us. HE MUST!