Jessica Halloran: Bernard Tomic suffers from ‘overbearing dad syndrome’

JOHN Tomic has willed and drilled his son Bernard to the top of the sport and the result of his parenting was his son’s mental capitulation at Wimbledon this week, Jessica Halloran writes.

Bernard Tomic training with father John Tomic. Picture: Richard Gosling

You can see it was not Bernard Tomic’s dream to be a tennis star.

It was his dad John’s.

While talented, the younger Tomic has never demonstrated a brutal hunger for the game like say Lleyton Hewitt did.

No, instead John Tomic has willed and drilled his son to the top of the sport and the result of his parenting was his son’s mental capitulation at Wimbledon this week.

The former taxi driver s domineering presence on the tour is a familiar tennis story (he infamously smashed in Tomic’s hitting partner’s face in one
violent episode).

The overbearing tennis dad or mum remains an insidious problem for the sport.

Bernard Tomic training with father John Tomic. Picture: Richard Gosling

While the words “brat”, “embarrassment”, “disgrace” and “dickhead” were thrown around about Tomic again this week, those in the tennis community who know and understand his ‘full story’ have a deep concern for him.

It’s easy to lash out at the 24-year-old’s “a little bit bored” attitude.

Yes he deserved the $20,000 fine for faking an injury, but as the likes of John Newcombe pointed out there is a serious concern Tomic will just “drift and drift and drift”. Newk says he needs help.

There’s a fear Tomic’s career is going to get far worse and never better.

If your trade is tennis and you can’t get excited about Wimbledon then life is looking particularly bleak.

Tomic’s fall is sad but unsurprising. As a kid Tomic came barnstorming into the sport with all right lines, a big management company and a bigger apparel deal.

Bernard Tomic's dad John and mother Ada watching him play tennis.

At 13 he said he would win all four grand slams by the age of 18 (he later said he was “stupid” for saying so).

Most athletes destined for epic, history-making achievements like that not only have the necessary skill, but also an uncompromising mental grit and hunger. An unflinching concentration.

But as a 16-year-old, playing in his first slam, Tomic spotted me, a measly working journalist, in a jam-packed crowd during an Australian Open match on Rod Laver Arena.

I know this because the next day when I interviewed him he told me about where I had been sitting (in the second tier) and that I had left during a certain set.

Roger Federer probably wouldn’t have done that.

Just like Andre Agassi’s now famed “hate” for the game Bernard’s interest is continuing to wane before our own eyes.

The question now has to be asked; was Tomic’s love for it ever there?