Bernard Tomic

Bernard Tomic has denied he is having issues with his father, despite asking an umpire to have Tomic snr removed from a tennis stadium in Florida.

Tomic complained to the chair umpire, Cedric Mourier, at the Sony Ericsson Open after John Tomic was seen shaking his head and making negative comments from the grandstand.

''He's annoying me, I know he's my father but he's annoying me. I want him to leave but how is this possible?'' Tomic asked the umpire.

''And if you tell him to leave what's going to happen?'' the umpire replied.

''It's not going to happen. If you see him, then tell him to be quiet,'' Tomic said.

Tomic later denied the interchange even occurred, despite it being captured by television cameras and courtside microphones.

''There's no problem, I just wanted my racquets restrung,'' Tomic said. ''There's nothing in it.''

as @paulmurphy noted earlier: Tomic has broken up with his girlfriend.

Report:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/confidential/bernard-tomic-splits-with-model-girlfriend-donay-meijer/story-e6frf96x-1226294398450

Australian teenager Bernard Tomic pulls out of the SAP Open (Feb. 13-19) in San Jose, California for personal reasons. The 19-year-old has a court date on February 14 in Queensland to fight traffic violations related to use of his sports car. The tournament had cited a leg injury for the pullout, but ATP Player Relations was told that he used one of his two personal exemptions for ATP 250 tournaments, and he will not be fined for the withdrawal. Tomic is scheduled to play Davis Cup the weekend prior to San Jose.

Tennis Magazine.

Bernard Tomic will have to go to court to deal with two traffic offenses that caused a stir during Australia Day last week, the Australian press reports. The 19-year-old was fined twice in the space of an hour for driving his BMW M3 on Australia’s Gold Coast, but refused to stop when asked to pull over a third time. 

Tomic then drove home, went inside and had a three-hour standoff with the police. Tomic has a special exemption allowing him to drive his V8 car for reasons 'pertaining to his career' but is not allowed to drive it for other reasons. He claims officers are picking him on because of his European background

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http://tennis.com/articles/templates/news.aspx?articleid=16166&zoneid=25

Unfortunate timing:

Pat Rafter praises Bernard Tomic maturity ...
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/tennis/pat-rafter-praises-bernard-tomic-maturity/story-fn77kxzt-1226254555183

and 90 minutes later the same paper reports:

Bernard Tomic in stand-off with Police!
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/tennis/bernard-tomic-drives-into-trouble-again-in-his-bmw-on-the-gold-coast/story-fn77kxzt-1226254549204

Little Bernie Tomic has some big plans:

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/tennis-ace-bernard-tomic-reveals-plan-to-reach-top-10-before-he-turns-20/story-e6frep5o-1226226579390

Despite limp effort, Tomic still aiming for the top
October 14, 2011

BERNARD Tomic's effort late in yesterday's limp third-round loss to 12th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov has been questioned by the Ukrainian's Australian coach, Jack Reader, as Tomic ended an extraordinary day at the Shanghai Rolex Masters by suggesting he would become world No. 1 in little more than two years.
A wet day at the Qi Zhong Tennis Centre proved grim for Tomic, whose match was transferred to an eerily quiet indoor practice court without spectators, TV cameras or a scoreboard. After winning a close first set, the 18-year-old Australian failed to hold serve again, surrendering the last nine games and the match 5-7, 6-1, 6-0.
''Bernie, the last two games he didn't look like he really tried,'' the plain-speaking Reader told The Age. ''I mean, 'Sasha' played well the last two sets, but what do you say?''
That Tomic gave up, perhaps? ''I don't know if I'd say that … he didn't see any reason to keep trying, I suppose is maybe a better way to put it. Sasha was playing good, yeah.
''You can see it quite often. It depends on the type of player. If it's a guy that's battled to get where he's at, that's really battled, well then they'll keep going, (whereas) someone who's got there a little easier and stuff, they're the ones who tend to throw in the towel a bit.''
In 2007, Tomic had his Tennis Australia funding suspended after a lacklustre effort in a French Open junior match.
Yesterday, he earned a break point in the penultimate game, but seemed particularly uninterested in the last, which he dropped to love. The Wimbledon quarter-finalist blamed a low first serve percentage in part for his fadeout when confronted with a more aggressive Dolgopolov.
''If you have 30 per cent of first serves, you can't really play tennis against no one,'' Tomic said. ''I'm sure he as well, he was serving at maybe 40 per cent in the second set, and it's funny how he won it 6-1, because both our serves were horrible in the second set, and the third set was a bit the same.
''He got on top of me mentally, throughout the whole second and third set. When a player does that to you it's tough to come back, he gets on top, and when you get a player like that to start feeling good and start striking on the ball, it's tough to compete against, I think.''
The 49th-ranked Tomic described as ''good advice'' the recent suggestion from Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter that he needed to improve his preparation and attitude to realise his potential. A week out from his 19th birthday, the youngest player in the top 200 estimated he was playing to only 50 or 60 per cent of his ability.
''If you're doing well at 18, inside almost the top 40, I think you're doing a good job, but everyone has their advice,'' Tomic said. ''I think he says the right thing. I definitely need to improve on a lot of things and work hard and even if I get to No. 1 in the world at 20, 21, that's where I want to be at my peak, but (there's) a long way to go for that. I've got to work hard and I'm gonna have my ups and downs.''
Reaching No. 1 so quickly was ''possible'', reiterated the teenager, who at 13 said he would hold all four grand slam titles and earn top spot within five years. ''I think it's tough. Obviously to be No. 1 in any sport is very tough, so I think it's going to be a quite interesting next year and after that.''
http://bit.ly/qlonIJ

Tomic swaps island home for Monaco
THE more the tennis world sees of the newest and youngest member of the top 50, the less frequently Bernard Tomic will still call Australia home, with the Gold Coast teenager set to spend more time next season at his new European base in Monte Carlo among neighbours including respective world No. 1s Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki.
Tomic, who was scheduled to play fifth seed Mardy Fish in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters last night, has rented an apartment in Monaco since mid-year, but intends to spend more time there from 2012. Australia's leading female player, US Open champion Sam Stosur, lives in Florida for much of the season, while Lleyton Hewitt has homes in Sydney and the Bahamas.
''As of next year I'll be in Monte Carlo,'' said Tomic after Monday's tight three-set defeat of South African Kevin Anderson. ''It's easy, especially when you finish the Miami trips, [to] head to Europe for that three or four-month period.
''This year it's part-time … So, you know, as of the next few tournaments I'm spending in Europe, I'll have a visit there, see what's going on, come back before the Australian Open.''
As Tomic builds towards a possible top-30 slot by the end of a breakthrough season he started outside the top 200, he is entered in the Basel and Paris Masters after Shanghai and may also play a smaller event in Vienna. Although his standout result, clearly, was his quarter-final effort at Wimbledon, the 18-year-old remains uncertain of his best surface.
''I don't know. I'm tricky,'' he said. ''I plan one thing, I feel like I can do well here, and I don't really do well sometimes. Other weeks I don't plan for it and I get to the quarters of a grand slam. You don't really know … Grass is definitely a good surface of mine.''
His occasional doubles partner and new Davis Cup teammate Matt Ebden is making progress, closing in on the top-100 slot that would ensure direct entry into the Australian Open for the first time. Ebden, 23, who has qualified for tour events in consecutive weeks and six times this season overall, will today play either Serbian 11th seed Viktor Troicki or American Ryan Harrison for a place in the third round.
''Anyone who sort of breaks in has to do their time, and you've got to earn it, prove that you belong there,'' said the West Australian, who has reached two tour-level quarter-finals this year. ''I've just been working on getting my game where it needs to be to head towards beating the top players in the world.
''I had the first set against [world No. 5] David Ferrer last week but just didn't quite sustain my level, and those guys come back at you very well, so it's good for me just to gauge where my game's at and where it needs to go.''
Meanwhile, a player meeting may still be held in Shanghai this week to discuss the grievances recently aired over scheduling and financial issues. ''Obviously, you need the top players involved,'' said key agitator Andy Roddick, adding that absent pair Djokovic and Roger Federer are just ''a phone call away''.
''I don't think we're storming offices, but I think the sentiment is still there. There is a discussion going on.''
October 12, 2011
http://bit.ly/mSo7N9

Pat Rafter Criticizes Bernard Tomic after Davis Cup
19 September, 2011
The Australian reports that Aussie Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter had some choice words for 18-year-old Bernard Tomic’s work ethic, after Tomic beat Stan Wawrinka but lost to Roger Federer in the two singles matches he played in Australia’s Davis Cup loss to Switzerland.
“It’s been one of the weak parts of his game,” Rafter said. ”He’s not applying himself day-in, day-out. And so it’s up to him. When he wants to put in that hard work he’ll start having very good results. There’s no doubt about it. On court he needs to be a bit more disciplined with his attitude and a bit more hard work. A lot more miles in his legs and be ready to take on matches day-in, day-out over a long period of time.”
“You can’t expect to be a good player and then not commit to any sport or anything you do. When he is ready to do that, he will become a very good player,” Rafter said.
Rafter said that he was not sure Tomic would take his advice.
“I don’t know. I have told him a few times. It is up to him now to make his decision,” Rafter said.
http://bit.ly/pW1J0R

Rafter advises Tomic to pull his socks up
Sep 21
Aussie teenaged hope Bernard Tomic has gotten some stern advice from his Davis Cup coach, with Patrick Rafter advising the youngster to start working harder if he wants to make an impression in the game.
It's not all one-way traffic from coach to pupil: the Australian team needs Wimbledon quarter-finalist Tomic to make a breakthrough now that 199th-ranked Lleyton Hewitt is clearly entering the endgame of his brilliant career.
Tomic, 18 and ranked 59th, beat Robin Sodering at Wimbledon and won a set off of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. But Australian tennis has a proud history and Tomic will have to lift his game, according to Rafter, who handed over the torch a decade ago to the young gun Hewitt.
"If he wants to work hard, he will get the results, and he's got to start having consistent results every time he walks on the court," said Rafter as Australia was denied a return to the Davis Cup World Group in a 3-2 loss in Sydney to Switzerland.
Added two-time US Open winner Rafter, one of the most popular Aussies ever to play the game: "That has been one of the weak parts of his game - that he is not applying himself day in, day out - and so that's up to him.
"He's got a lot of great things and great strengths about his game, but he has to commit to it. I think he's physically okay, but on court he needs to be just a bit more disciplined in his attitude and do a bit more hard work - just get a lot more miles in his legs and (be) ready to just sort of take on those matches day in, day out, over a long period of time."
The former US and Australian Open junior winner has yet to lift a first ATP title.
http://bit.ly/rgaMdZ