Australian Open news: Why Tennis Australia shot down Bernard Tomic’s Aus Open hopes
Bernard Tomic’s ranking fell to a low of 825 in 2022 before a late jump to inside the top 500. However, it wasn’t enough to get him a wildcard into Aus Open qualifying.
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Australian Open chief Craig Tiley says a top tennis panel considered a range of factors in its decision not to award Australian Bernard Tomic a shot at a grand slam berth.
Tomic, 30, was overlooked for a wildcard into Australian Open qualifying, which began on Monday at Melbourne Park.
He fell to a ranking of 825 in 2022 before clawing back late in the season to finish the year ranked No. 462, but was denied a chance to earn his place in the main draw of the tournament after a process Tiley said was multifaceted.
“Our team that looks at the decision has a team of people that looks at the decision of wildcards,” he said.
“(They look at) the player coming in, the strength of their play, what events they’ve been playing, how much they’ve been playing, are they the younger part of our future generation. There’s many factors that go into it.”
He maintained that “it’s not a quick decision” and said the fact that Australia now possessed so many promising young players was a factor.
“One thing that’s great is we’ve got a new problem – we’ve got a lot more Australian players to choose from, and that’s a great problem to have,” he said.
Australian Open qualifying began as a ticketed event for the first time on Monday morning, which Tiley said would expand in coming years to include music and entertainment elements.
“We know that Melburnians, Victorians, Australians and from around the world, as the world opens up more … there is going to be a lot of people that want to come here in January,” he said.
“We are preparing for the future and extending the period of this event. This is just year one of that growth initiative.
“Our target (for the total crowd for the three weeks) is 900,000 (people). But it’s entirely dependent on weather.
“If we have good weather, then we have a good chance.”
WHY TOMIC HAS BEEN UNFAIRLY THROWN ON GARBAGE HEAP
—Will Swanton
Believe it or not, Bernie Tomic deserved better from Tennis Australia. The governing body cashed in on his wildly unpredictable behaviour and results when he was in his perplexing yet priceless pomp.
TA gleefully used him for promotions, put him on Rod Laver Arena for the colossal TV ratings, got its money’s worth from him as a contrary, combustible teenager and twenty-something. Now? He’s thrown out with the trash in those big garbage bins near Court 7 at Melbourne Park.
Saint Bernard hasn’t quit tennis. The 30-year-old is having one last roll of the dice and warrants a helping hand from his own governing body. When he freefalled to world No. 825 last year, he looked done and dusted, one of the great tennis talents sounding all-the-way sad in empty social media spats with Nick Kyrgios.
But he did what Andre Agassi did all those years ago, battling away at wholly unglamorous Futures events, winning three of them, reaching a final, no mean feat, banking rankings points like he used to deposit hundred-dollar bills.
He snuck back to the world No. 462 slot thanks to a slew of results that absolutely warranted a wildcard into Monday’s Australian Open qualifying tournament.
And yet, there was one complication. He’s Bernie Tomic. Not even he could deny that and so he was shafted. Denied the chance to earn his place in the main draw. That much, as a minimum, he was entitled to.
“Thanks again for the support,” he wrote on Instagram while flying through those European Futures tournaments. “F--- the haters. I’m gonna prove them wrong.”
If results were anonymous, if this leap of 363 rankings places — meteoric! — had no name attached, he’d get truckloads of support from TA. But the governing body and Lleyton Hewitt clearly brushed him because they don’t like him.
The toxicity is real and Tomic has burned so many bridges he needs to swim to shore, but this is a results-based business and Tomic finished last year in fine fettle.
Main draw and qualifying wildcards aren’t meant to go to the most popular blokes. They’re meant to go to the most promising juniors, to the old fellas needing a helping hand or a thanks for past services or anyone making inroads on the Futures Tour.
Tomic fits two of the three categories. Meets all the criteria aside from being Bernie Tomic. What a shame he’s been cast aside.
His appearance would have been akin to the teen boxing prodigy who became a bum but is climbing back into the ring to make amends in his 30s.
So many qualifying wildcards were handed out on the weekend that anyone in the vicinity of Melbourne Park on Monday was likely to get a hit.
Australia’s world No. 406 James McCabe, No. 543 Philip Sekulovska and No. 1017 Derek Pham are among the recipients.
Nothing for Tomic despite the mini-resurgence and all those years of highly entertaining, if baffling, crowd-pulling, dramatic, if occasionally cringe-worthy, always charismatic, headline-grabbing runs at the Open, holding his own against Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the last 16 on RLA and having one especially ding-dong battle against Andy Murray in 2016.
TA cashed in on all those campaigns and so did the TV stations putting him in prime time, even when it was past his bedtime.
He gave the Open and TA more than most will admit to — and gets nothing in return.
He should have received a court and an opponent alongside the rest of the battlers on Monday. The circus should have been welcomed back to town. For former gory glories and the possibility that perhaps, just perhaps, a magician of a player has one more trick up his unsponsored sleeve.
TA giving Tomic the cold shoulder because he’s given it to the governing body — two wrongs don’t make a right. I’d have done more than a qualifying wildcard. I’d have given him a main-draw freebie alongside good old John Millman, Alexei Popyrin, Jason Kubler and Rinky Hijikata. Stir the joint up a bit. F … the haters.
Tomic is a past Davis Cup player. Olympian. World No. 17. Four-time ATP Tour titleist. Wimbledon quarter-finalist. All under the Australian flag.
He used to bicker and moan without reason. Now he does have something to complain about, he’s making no peep. “I’m not expecting any favours. I’m going to prove my point and earn my way,” Tomic told the First Serve podcast.
“I understand Tennis Australia has made its decision. It’s good to see the young tennis players getting an opportunity. I’m at a place in my life where I don’t complain anymore. I’m focused and I’ve been training hard. I’ll let my tennis do the talking.
“Last quarter of 2022, I won three tournaments and made four finals. This year is my year. If no one is going to help support me, I’ll get back to top 100 on my own. My head space is very different. I’m in a positive environment, good people around me, I’m in a healthy, happy relationship. Now all there is to do, is get back to where I belong.”
Tomic bomb: Career hanging by thread after AO wildcard snub
– Todd Balym
Bernard Tomic has been snubbed for an Australian Open qualifying tournament wildcard — a hammer blow to the former bad boy’s quest to rebuild his professional career.
Tennis Australia officials on Saturday handed out nine wildcards to the qualifying tournament starting on Sunday — including five to teenagers who are currently ranked lower than Tomic on the ATP tour.
Tomic, 30, is currently ranked No. 466 in the world after spending the past year trying to rebuild his career, winning three lower tier ITF events to amass just $US35,732 in prizemoney.
But of that income, $US25,250 came from losing in the opening round of qualifying in Melbourne last year with his tour wins valued at just $2160 each.
Tomic complained of feeling ill at the time and predicted he would test positive for Covid after that loss — a diagnosis he later confirmed a few days later.
But without any grand slam income to bankroll his 2023 year, it remains to be seen how committed Tomic is to rebuilding his professional career despite being vocal on Instagram of his training and motivation.
What is clear is that Tennis Australia no longer see a path back for Tomic.
They want to invest in the future with more than half of those wildcards handed out given to teenagers who are ranked lower than him including world No. 543 Philip Sekulic (19-year-old from Queensland), No. 636 Bruno Kuzuhara (18yo from USA), No. 672 Edward Winter (18yo from South Australia), No. 990 Jeremy Jin (18yo from NSW) and No. 1017 Derek Pham (18yo from WA).
Kuzuhara is the reigning Australian Open boys’ singles champion while Adam Watson, 23, is the oldest wildcard entrant after moving up the rankings with three ITF titles in 2022 after he graduated US college.
Tennis Australia handed nine young women wildcards for qualifying, including 22-year-old Destanee Aiava who has fought back from a suicide attempt just prior to her 22nd birthday last year to rekindle her career.
Aiava, who has spoken publicly of her mental health battles, looms as the feel-good story of the tournament if she can turn this wildcard qualifying opportunity into a grand slam tournament start.
The other women’s wildcards for Australia are: Astra Sharma (No. 233, 27yo from WA), Lizette Cabrera (No. 265, 25yo from Queensland), Alexandra Bozovic (No. 307, 23yo from NSW), Ellen Perez (No. 364, 27 from NSW), Seone Mendez (No. 375, 23yo from NSW), Petra Hule (No. 452, 23yo from SA), Kaylah McPhee (No. 580, 24yo from Queensland) and Elysia Bolton (No. 681, 22yo from NSW).
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