(June 25, 2013) On a day which Bernard Tomic should have been basking in glory from surviving dizziness to win a match in five sets to open his Wimbledon campaign, the Australian spoke out about the ATP for banning his father from his matches.
After the 20-year-old held off 21st seed, American Sam Querrey 7-6 (8), 7-6 (3), 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, he spent most of his post-match news conference discussing his father John Tomic.
John Tomic has been barred from the grounds at Wimbledon and other tournaments, stemming from a case in Spain which is pending. The elder Tomic is accused of assaulting his son’s hitting partner with a head-butt.
Asked about the ban of his father, Tomic said: “I’m not saying it’s Wimbledon, they’re harsh. I’m saying probably the ATP. It’s their decision. From what I know it’s very disappointing, and I’m going to keep saying it, it is. From what they investigated about my dad, whoever is on the board, this guy called Gayle, he said clearly he was on the phone with my father and made a decision on behalf of that.
“You don’t do that. If you’re the ATP, you come on a flight, you have a meeting with whatever’s wrong.
“At this stage, they didn’t. They investigated something on the telephone for 30 seconds and made a decision, which is very bad. You don’t do that, I think. Whoever was on the board to make that decision, it was Gayle and a few more people, very disappointing to see that happen like that. That’s the only thing that’s harsh, I think.”
“It’s very difficult to play a match, the biggest tournament we have in tennis, not to have your coach there or your father who has been there throughout your whole life,” Tomic said. “I’m going to stand by my decision, I think the ATP did the wrong thing.”
“Growing up with your father is a good thing for me because this is how I became, you know, good at tennis at a young age. I was there with my dad. We worked hard. We were on the court together.
“Now all of a sudden there’s a change. There’s always a change in life, a decision that was made on behalf of what happened. Like I said, I’m going to blame the ATP a lot for this. You know, there’s a lot of players out there who do not stand by the ATP’s decision. They have a lot of bad decisions, a few good ones, but I’m saying this is a very bad one.”
Tomic will play James Blake in the second round.