"Would you care if your 23 years old and worth over 10 million?

Tomic held the racquet by the strings and did not offer a shot when down match point to Fabio Fognini in Madrid and then asked a journalist who queried the move, “Would you care if you were 23 and worth over $10m?”

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/may/07/bernard-tomic-and-nick-kyrgios-put-on-notice-by-australian-olympic-boss

Wow, this is some serious lack of awareness by the kid. I mean things like manners, class, honor, and dignity matter in the world and no one likes a classless individual or remarks like this one. Kyrgios as well has been the center of controversy for his behavior and comments. Its become so bad that the Australian Olympic committee of the country is insinuating that they might not take bad behavior athletes and naming these two to the Olympics.

To me this shows serious flaws in this guy's character that will probably preclude him from ever being a great of this game or winning a slam, unless he changes his attitude a 180 degrees. It is sad that in the 50s and 60s the heyday of Aussie tennis with people like Laver, Rosewal, Emerson, Newcombe etc. the Aussies were known for their impeccable manners and good sportsmanship. Is this another sign of the general decline of the values in their culture and all of ours as well?

Yes he sucks, his father is a maniac too and banned after punching his sons coach or whatever he was to him.

Korgi is no better, don't know on what are these teens growing up on Australia.

At least they are honest. Maybe most tennis players think like this and laugh at the paying audiences who have to pay the admission fee, or a subscription fee, or increased fees for tennis equipment to pay for their endorsements. But maybe they laugh and sneer on the inside and serve up platitudes to the reporters, saying things like "I aim to entertain", "I saw an opportunity but unfortunately I wasn't able to take it", "the better man won today, I will redouble my efforts for the next time", "I would like to congratulate Fognini", "I was nursing an injury", "I tried my best", "I would like to thank my parents", "I would like to thank the coach", "The spectators were really fantastic today, I would like to thank them" ...

Nore Staat wrote:At least they are honest.  Maybe most tennis players think like this and laugh at the paying audiences who have to pay the admission fee, or a subscription fee, or increased fees for tennis equipment to pay for their endorsements.  But maybe they laugh and sneer on the inside and serve up platitudes to the reporters, saying things like "I aim to entertain", "I saw an opportunity but unfortunately I wasn't able to take it", "the better man won today, I will redouble my efforts for the next time", "I would like to congratulate Fognini", "I was nursing an injury", "I tried my best", "I would like to thank my parents", "I would like to thank the coach", "The spectators were really fantastic today, I would like to thank them" ...

Kind of cynical if you ask me Nore. I think the vast majority of these people really care about winning. Watch the top guys they have more money than Bernie and the only thing they now give a crap about is winning. I mean Fed could make more money signing autographs and playing exhos than prize money with nothing to prove he goes under the knife to get back and play again. I think it isn't as cynical and dishonest a money grab as you are making it.

Here is the match on you tube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMxAjr_WbYg

Well its not the smartest move in any case. He may well not be worth 10 mil anymore if sponsors pick up on that.

I mean you dont have to sound like an entitles a$$ to not give a boring presser.

Maybe go down the Cantona and mention a bunch f seagulls

I read this the other day and thought "what a chump".
It was disrespectful to the paying crowd, the tournament, the ATP, to Fognini and it sets a poor example to juniors.
The guy is a serious waste of talent...and a chip off the old block...just in it for the money like his father seems to be.

I wish the journalist had said "Having loads of money doesn't stop you being a silly billy, and everything thinking you're a silly billy"
Or "All the money in the world can't buy you class"

Hell, I wish I'd been there!

Well Tomic retired today in Rome after 3 games - reportedly a wrist injury. So possibly he was injured against Fognini and knew the match was gone - or possibly the poor attitude just continued to the next tournament. I actually do see how this kind of attitude comes out when the press are questioning your application - he's not the only player to try to brush off criticism in this way - but someone does need to point out to him where the money in tennis comes from. Please Roger tell him!

Yvonne, it is a slap in the face to the paying customer if they believe you aren't trying and don't care. I mean if we thought these guys didn't care we probably would care as much either. It is about earning the dollars that you are getting from the fans and then people will not begrudge you the money. I don't know how to even fix and attitude that is this broken. Good post by the way fully agree.

I do not know if Nore was serious but I kind of agree with that assessment. What matters to me is whether or not a player puts in the effort, not what they say about it.

So I agree that Tomic's attitude on that return was inappropriate, but in my mind he did not make it any worse by being honest about it. It strikes me there are other players capable of the same (like, perhaps, even Fognini himself?), and just because they do not advertise it, it does not make their offence any less serious.

Yeah, SB interestingly Foggy has done some the same thing. He can win a set and then if he goes down a break or gets frustrated he will just pack it in and its quite obvious that he is doing. I just think its not many players who are like that, most are pretty committed at the tour level.

Ten million won't get him through - not given his attitude probably means he spends freely, and his ordinary performances & attitudes will screw his endorsements.

I think some unhappiness awaits him, what a loser.

bogbrush wrote:Ten million won't get him through - not given his attitude probably means he spends freely, and his ordinary performances & attitudes will screw his endorsements.

I think some unhappiness awaits him, what a loser.

I noticed the contradictions to, he is bragging about all the money he has therefore one has to assume Tomic is playing and cares about the money. But if you care about the money, winning and endorsements are what make you that money. And by act like a total Ahole what you are doing is actually greatly limiting the amount of money you will make that you say you care about at least by implication.

Well if he thinks money is a measure of success, then by god what low aspirations he has!

Frustration on court is something all players succumb to at some point and how they express or vent can come in many forms. Usually this is tidied up by a usual PR "Didn't play well today. Will play better next time" kind of thing. I think the whole dismissive attitude towards his actions is what is causing some backlash.

As BB said, unhappiness awaits him.

A matter of opening his mouth before he puts his mind in gear imo

Not always wise to say what you might be thinking especially to the press.
However, if that is how committed he is to the sport he purports to love and the one that has been earning him a decent living.. it sounds like he will be heading for a very early retirement. 10 million is not a lot to live the rest of your life on today.. lets hope he has another string to his racquet he will need it.

One will often see a player appearing to capitulate towards the end of a match losing the last set 6-1 or 6-2.  It's as if they get mentally broken or have physically exhausted themselves or have developed some niggling injury that becomes the centre of their mind.  I have seen it with Murray where he looks mentally broken and glazed.  I have even seen it (but less often) with Nadal where he looks like he just wants to get off the court and has accepted his fate.  It may be on the final point, it may be on the final game, it may be on the final set, it may be during a run of losing games especially in a non final set where they let the set go and then redouble their efforts for the early part of the next set ...

So Tomic was doing something that we have seen in other tennis players, maybe all tennis players to some degree.  But he made it obvious with the reverse racket hold and then he didn't have anything to say when he was questioned on it - and reacted in a petulant manner.  Even so his answer was probably true.  At the end of the day him making an effort in the last point, or in the last game, was probably not going to turn the match around.  Or he  may have picked up a strain or niggly injury that he may have judged needed attention and rest - so that it was not "worth" the effort or risk to put in the effort to try to turn things around at the last moment and then have to play more matches in short succession.  Best to keep healthy and pick up the "big paycheck" in the next tournament.  He has already got over $10 million dollars in his name already, so he is obviously doing something right, and this loss isn't going to affect him one way or the other.

It may also be part of a mind game on Fognini.  He knows he has to play Fognini in the future.  There is the mano a mano aspect of playing different players.  Maybe he was denying the winning moment for Fognini.  Showing Fognini, that he was giving him this match, or treating Fognini's victory with contempt by obviously giving him some "free points".

Even so he has to be careful, has to try to remember there is also an audience, in the arena or watching by way of subscription television. He has to remember to respect them too.

If he ever makes retirement... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-3457519/Tennis-bad-boy-Bernard-Tomic-admits-driving-352kph-ATP-World-Tour-interview.html

He's got a love of fast cars...so you can bet he's "spending it like Beckham".

However, the good times will dry up if he doesn't look after the golden goose.

He says his weakness is his physique...for sure given he retired just 8 mins into his Rome R1 after saying it was "too hot".

Then do something about it Tomic the Tank engine!!

All this creep does for me is to prove just what the top guys have done for this sport. Fed/Rafa/Novak/Murray.. he could not, even given the talent, hold a candle to any of them. Let us thank the tennis gods that we have had the privilege to watch the true professionals of the sport at work. If we are looking for GOATS we have found them. With the like of Tomic on the horizon will we ever see the like again??  I think not.. like football its all about money

As unimpressive as Tomic's aftermatch comments, are impressive the prematch comments of Johanna Konta.  To come up with such comments Konta has had to strip away the sports aspect of the match from the entertainment aspect of the match.  Here she is focusing on the entertainment aspects of the match where she is viewing the match from the spectators perspective:

Johanna Konta as reported by the BBC wrote: The 24-year-old will face Italy's Roberta Vinci in the next round ...   "She's a great player, incredibly talented and creative.  I hope to bring a good level to the court and the fans will be able to enjoy it.  Whoever the fans will be cheering for - and it will most likely be her - it'll be just great to attract a lot of people and the energy they bring. It's definitely a pleasure to play in front of big crowds."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/36257869

Nore Staat wrote:As unimpressive as Tomic's aftermatch comments, are impressive the prematch comments of Johanna Konta.  To come up with such comments Konta has had to strip away the sports aspect of the match from the entertainment aspect of the match.  Here she is focusing on the entertainment aspects of the match where she is viewing the match from the spectators perspective:

Johanna Konta as reported by the BBC wrote: The 24-year-old will face Italy's Roberta Vinci in the next round ...   "She's a great player, incredibly talented and creative.  I hope to bring a good level to the court and the fans will be able to enjoy it.  Whoever the fans will be cheering for - and it will most likely be her - it'll be just great to attract a lot of people and the energy they bring. It's definitely a pleasure to play in front of big crowds."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/36257869

How is this equivalent to Tomic's actions or comments. This sounds like a completely unobjectionable comment, its fun for her to play in front of big crowd. I don't get how this is relevant Nore?

NS

I think one of the big differences is that Konta has more perspective on (relative) success, having slogged it out through the 2nd and 3rd tier tournaments of the WTA before making a relatively late breakthrough in the last year. Tomic came into the main tour as a seriously hyped young player and has always produced enough good results to get into all the GS and MS 1000 events without having to succumb to the 'journeyman' route.

Then again, the likes of Federer, Rafa, Djoko and Murray didn't struggle to make the grade, and you would never accuse them of being disrespectful to the fans and the opponent - and they've all got rather more than AS$ 10 million in the bank...

Of course it could also be that Konta is a nice and humble person and Tomic isn't...

socal1976 wrote: How is this equivalent to Tomic's actions or comments. This sounds like a completely unobjectionable comment, its fun for her to play in front of big crowd. I don't get how this is relevant Nore?

It is relevant through contrast.  It helps to frame Tomic's comment in light of expectation.  It helps to explain why you have reacted in a negative manner to Tomic's comment and created an article out of it.  It helps to explain why others have also reacted negatively to Tomic's comment.  Because his comment and action breaks a norm of propriety.  It also through contrast helps to explain the difference in perspective.  Tomic's comment reveals his own perspective only requiring a selfish perspective.  Whereas Konta is having to project onto a spectators perspective - a non-selfish perspective - an adult perspective - requiring a more mature mind.

Anyway that is my viewpoint.

ps: I nod in agreement with dummy_half's comment.

Amusing read about Tomic...the Australian press is savaging him these days:

http://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/bernard-tomic-is-a-lost-cause-incapable-of-saving-himself/news-story/6ba8eae13e2f90bbbfc7ada68351d3be

You have to feel for Hewitt as DC captain to be blessed with so many @rseholes in his team!

Honestly, I know this is crazy but I kind of blame the 80s and the only art form to come out of that general time period hip hop. I mean there was a point where hip hop went from urban poetry to bragging about look at me how rich I am. The videos with the mansions, sports cars, and gold chains became a motif for some reason. I find this kind of throw your money in people's face has always existed among large segments of the rich. But it has really become bizarre this in your face classless demonstration of wealth. We went from Wall Street culture to bling culture and just gluttonous displays of wealth in an arrogant manner is just something more common and esteemed in our society. Even televangelists who brag to their donors that they need a new G6 and that if they make him wealthy god will be happy and help turn their 5 and ten dollar donations into their own wealth. There just seems to be this desire to flaunt and display wealth and rub everyone's nose in it without anymore class or dignity. It actuality shows a lack of self awareness and neurotic desire for affirmation that only reflects on their shortcomings.

Indeed LK...Hewitt must hate Tomic because he was all about the grit and determination (as was Rafter...and most other Aussies). Tomic seems the antithesis of this. I still hold out hope for Kyrgios, I think he's more intelligent and prepared to work harder but we'll see.

Maybe socal, but some of it is probably in built arrogance, some of which will be an outcome of the upbringing from his odious father.
There are loads of other 23yo's on tour who aren't idiots like Tomic. You get bad apples in every basket...looks like Tomic is one of them. His raw talent has basically got him this far but he can't be bothered to get any higher through application even though he has top 5-10 ability. Those above him simply want it more. Just shows that talent alone isn't everything.

Yes, I agree Lydian of course the parents are going to be the biggest influence. But the whole culture of conspicuous excess which isn't new, but what is new is the almost taunting manner in which the wealth is lorded over the have nots and also how wealth becomes the end in itself not a means to an end. I think some of this has always been there but it has gotten worse since the ME generation/blow/corporatization etc.