Bernard Tomic needs Tennis Australia help before it’s too late

Is Tennis Australia merely going to watch a tremendous talent crash and burn without doing everything possible to prevent it?

Bernard Tomic with his father, John, during a practice session in Melbourne last week. Picture: Getty

Bernard Tomic is acting like a spoiled brat but Tennis Australia still owes him a duty of care.

Former world top 20 player Tomic flamed out of the Australian Open qualifying tournament on Sunday, then responded to the setback by telling waiting media he would “just count money’’.

“That’s all I do. I count my millions. You go do what I did. You go make $13-14 million. Good luck guys.’’

Live: Australian Open blog

That is the sign of a young man in deep trouble. Anyone who values his worth by the amount of money he has is truly lost. Without tennis, it appears that Tomic’s life would be empty.

There are worrying parallels with the career of Jelena Dokic, who has just published a horror story of an autobiography, revealing that her domineering father Damir terrorised her throughout her childhood and early adulthood, controlling every facet of her life and separating her from anyone who might have helped her escape.

Tennis dropped the ball on Dokic when she desperately needed outside help.

Tomic also has a domineering father, John. We don’t know the inside of their relationship but we do know that John Tomic has called journalists and threatened them with violence because he didn’t like what they wrote about his son, and that he was convicted of assaulting Bernard’s hitting partner in Spain.

What has become clear from Dokic’s story is that Tennis Australia didn’t do enough to protect her when she was one of Australia’s leading players, and it must learn from that and do its utmost to ensure that Tomic does not descend to the same depths.

Duty of care for elite athletes, is a hot topic among sports organisations at the moment, particularly in the light of the rash of famous cases where retiring athletes have failed to adjust to normal life with terrible, and sometimes fatal, consequences. Tomic’s self-destructive behaviour should be of enormous concern to the sport that has helped to create the sense of entitlement that Tomic now wears like an increasingly ragged cloak.

On Melbourne radio station RSN this morning, Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley, basically said that Tomic was on his own.

“These players are independent contractors that run their own show and say their own thing,’’ Tiley said.

“We don’t provide any financial support or other support services to them. We did when he was a young teenager. He took advantage of all the support Tennis Australia provided for a solid eight or nine years.

“Once you start getting on tour and you are a professional player and you start to make your own money, you are on your own.’’

Tiley said TA had offered support to Tomic, who he described as a tremendous talent, but the 25-year-old player had not taken up the offer.

“Hopefully Bernie realises you are not going to progress your career unless you put in an unbelievable effort every day,’’ Tiley said.

Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt made it apparent in Sydney last week that he had lost patience with Tomic’s lack of commitment to his career and had not kept in touch with him.

So is Tennis Australia just going to watch this “tremendous talent’’ crash and burn without doing everything possible to prevent that outcome?

TA has known all along how difficult John Tomic was and how explosive this situation was. But it was desperate for a successor to Hewitt as a male grand slam contender when the cupboard looked bare and did not stand up to John Tomic for the sake of his son, for fear that he would make good on his threat to quit Australia and take Bernard to play for Croatia.

Let’s not forget that Damir Dokic did take Jelena to the former Yugoslavia, further isolating her from anyone in Australia who was in a position to help her break away from his malign influence.

Tennis Australia should not just let history repeat itself with the Tomics. Bernard Tomic may not be ready to ask for help yet, but TA must continue keep the channels open so it can catch him as he falls.