Mystery still surrounds Bernard Tomic’s Australian Open future

BERNARD Tomic will play in the Priceline Classic next week in Kooyong. Beyond that, nobody seems certain what the 25-year old will do next.

TOKYO, JAPAN — OCTOBER 04: Bernard Tomic of Australia plays a forehand against Diego Schwartzman of Argentina during day three of the Rakuten Open at Ariake Coliseum on October 4, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)

BERNARD Tomic will play unheralded Japanese left-hander Yoshihito Nishioka at the Priceline Classic at Kooyong next week as intrigue continues to swirl around the fading star’s Australian Open intentions.

Kooyong tournament director Peter Johnston confirmed Tomic will play world No 166 Nishioka late on Tuesday afternoon.

But nobody — not even Melbourne Park officials — are certain of what the talented Queenslander intends to do after his first match of a fruitless Australian summer season takes place.

Tomic’s future has come under the microscope.

Speculation continues to build Tomic is keen to accept a large appearance fee to appear in Network Ten’s “I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!” reality show as his tennis career unravels.

Currently ranked No 140 in the world, Tomic is automatically entered for major events such as the Australian Open — regardless of whether he plans to play or not.

The Gold Coaster was overlooked by Tennis Australia for a discretionary wildcard into the main draw after rejecting Lleyton Hewitt’s invitation to a training camp.

He then effectively cut communications with one of his staunchest allies by knocking back a place in TA’s wildcard playoff, using insulting descriptions of fellow Australian players in the process.

His attitude alarmed Hewitt, Jason Stoltenberg and Wally Masur — the trio who effectively make wildcard and funding recommendations to TA.

If Tomic ventures to Melbourne Park for qualifying on Wednesday, he will attempt to win a best of three set match for the first time since November — with only Kooyong’s outing as preparation.

Tomic could be facing a ratings plummet.

As it stands, Tomic’s ranking will tumble to about No 170 unless he qualifies and reaches the third round at Melbourne Park, as he did last January.

Exiled from Davis Cup for “scheduling” reasons, Tomic has not been seen at any of the regular training bases since he ended his 2017 season last November in Slovakia.

Nick Kyrgios labelled Tomic’s absence as “strange” after the Queenslander withdrew from Brisbane qualifying because of reported back soreness.

His continued non-appearance comes as teenager Alex De Minaur, Thanasi Kokkinakis, John Millman, Jason Kubler and Kyrgios flourish.