Tennis bad boy Bernard Tomic boasts of earning millions during ‘amazing’ career despite hardly trying
Controversial Australian says he gives about 50 per cent effort and that he’s never loved the game
Under-fire Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic has boasted of his “amazing” achievements in the sport and winning millions of dollars in prize money despite not really trying hard throughout his career.
In a candid interview with Australian broadcaster The Seven Network, the 24-year-old also said he had no regrets about his Wimbledon admission of being “bored” during his first round defeat, comments that cost him a steep fine and his sponsorship with racket manufacturer Head.
“Throughout my career I’ve given 100 per cent. I’ve given also 30 per cent,“ Tomic said in the television interview from Miami.
“But if you balance it out, I think all my career’s been around 50 per cent and I haven’t really tried and I’ve achieved all this,” Tomic said. “So it’s just amazing what I’ve done. I never loved tennis. I am just going to go about it as a job.
Watch: Bernard Tomic’s interview
“Wouldn’t anyone want to take a job in a professional sport in one of the biggest sports in the world and only give 50, 60 per cent and earn millions of dollars? I think everybody would take that.”
Once touted as a potential grand slam champion and a top 10 player, Tomic’s ranking has slid to 73 from a career high of 17 at the start of 2016.
After a listless 6-3 6-4 6-3 defeat by Germany’s Mischa Zverev at Wimbledon, Tomic said he felt a “little bored” on the court and had suffered from a lack of motivation for two years.
The comments drew condemnation from former players and pundits across the globe.
“I don’t regret what I said,” he said. “At the end of the day, it might sort of look bad ... and we Australians don’t like that.
“I’m an honest person and say what I feel. Expressing how I feel, and showing emotion in a different way ... they don’t like it,” he said of his detractors.
‘I couldn’t care less,’ says Aussie bad boy Bernard Tomic as he crashes out at Wimbledon
Tomic has won over US$5 million in prize money on the ATP circuit and owns properties around the world but said he felt a prisoner in his career.
“My position, I am trapped. I have to do it,” he said. “Not many things can make me super happy. If I ever get the chance to win a grand slam, I think only then will I feel the feeling of being really, really happy.”
