Bernard Tomic tests positive to Covid after Aus Open qualifying meltdown

Bernard Tomic has been proven correct after he said he would test positive to Covid-19 following his Aus Open qualifying thrashing.

Australian tennis bad boy Bernard Tomic has been proven correct after he raged that he would test positive for Covid-19 after his qualifying capitulation for the Australian Open.

Tomic was thrashed 6-1 6-4 to World No. 146 Russian Roman Safiullin on Tuesday in the first step in the 29-year-old’s comeback to tennis.

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Tomic fell apart in the opening set, losing in 23 minutes, and entered into a colourful exchange with the chair umpire shortly afterwards at the change of ends.

Tomic refused to do press after the match as well, saying on-court he believed he would test positive for Covid.

“I’m sure in the next two days I’ll test positive, I’m telling you,” Tomic said to the umpire.

“I’ll buy you dinner if I don’t test positive in three days. Otherwise you buy me dinner.

“I cannot believe nobody’s getting tested. They’re allowing players to come on the court with rapid tests in their room. Come on.

“No official PCR testing.”

On Wednesday Tomic was isolating in his hotel room and posted that he was “Feeling really sick, I’m now back in my hotel room”.

Tomic wasn’t feeling well in qualifying. Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images

While Australia is no stranger to Tomic’s excuses after matches, this has turned out not to be an excuse as the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported on Thursday he had tested positive for the virus 48 hours after he took the court.

“I still feel pretty sick,” Tomic told the papers. “I feel worse mentally than physically because I really was motivated to make a comeback and show the Australian public that I can be the tennis player they expect me to be. I’m disappointed this virus stopped me from doing that.

“I know it might not seem like it but this is the start of my return. Due to the illness, I just couldn’t fire on all cylinders. As much as I tried, I didn’t have the energy to fight. I’m going to do everything it takes to get back to the top. I really appreciate everyone’s support.”

Tomic is not the first Australian player to contract the illness, after Nick Kyrgios pulled out of the Sydney Tennis Classic as a result of a positive case.

It came at the worst possible time for Tomic who said he would give his tennis career one final push.

Tomic has Covid. Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images

At the age of 18, Tomic burst onto the scene becoming the youngest player since Boris Becker to make the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2011.

Now he has set himself the goal of making the top 10 in “two or three years”.

“I’m going to try and turn this around and give myself the best chance in the next couple of years. I’ve got one more chance at this. I’ll try and do it for myself,” he told the Gold Coast Bulletin in December.

“Now it’s all about getting it right and having a good crack at the next five or six years and trying to get back to the top.”

“I miss that sort of feeling.”

It comes during a week where his new influencer girlfriend Keely Hannah was revealed, while his ex Vanessa Sierra took a bitter swipe at the controversial tennis star.