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Bernard Tomic. An athlete who is as much gifted as he is an enigma, last night reiterated to every Australian the notion: he ain’t worth our time.
Tipped as one of the most anticipated match ups of the Australian Open, 21-year old Tomic last night faced the No.1 ranked Rafael Nadal and before you could blink Tomic was grimacing.
41 minutes later it was over with Tomic forced to retire citing a groin injury. No one was overly surprised.
The crowd booed him, social media went into a frenzy and I too cursed and stamped my feet.
Not so much for the fact that Tomic withdrew, but because this was supposed an opportunity (yes another one), to win over the public and get them back on track.
Statistically and theoretically, Tomic never stood a chance against Nadal. However, I wanted him to demonstrate his power and ability to produce great shots to his doubters.
In hindsight last night here were glimpses of greatness. While initially he struggled with his return of serve, his forehand responded when he faced short balls. It also helped that Nadal failed to get any solid depth off his own returns.
Today though this all means nothing. Tomic is again at the forefront of being the most picked-upon Australian athlete alongside Anthony Mundine, and numerous footballers.
He’s got no heart. This is why Australia hates him. Hewitt would have fought on, doggedly. Et cetera.
Right now there’s a plethora of tweets about Tomic across social media, most of the unsavoury type.
Perhaps if Hewitt hadn’t displayed his staunch fighting capability only an hour before Tomic took the court would the majority of you all wouldn’t be so aggressive to Bernie.
We’ve sat back, amused by the other hate campaigns and seen them come out the other side. Quade Cooper, Sonny Bill Williams and (dare I say) Josh Dugan could all give Tomic a pep talk on the perils of this sports loving nation.
The begging question though is does Tomic have it in him to turn it around? And what exactly is it he needs to change again? Would you like him to perhaps turn his hat to the front? Kiss more babies?
Some say Hewitt has ruined the future of tennis for us. We’ve been spoiled with his success and humility and I’d almost agree if it wasn’t for young Nick Kyrgios coming up through the ranks having won his debut round one match yesterday.
So now I’m back to the question that’s run through my brain all night: should Tomic have played on risking further injury that could have him sidelined for weeks therefore missing the next Davis Cup tie or should he have fought on till he damn well ripped his groin to bits resulting into happy headlines of ‘Tomic the fighter’ thus winning over the country?
Sure the PR would have been great for the latter but that’s not reality. We have another three Grand Slams ahead of us this year, Tomic has a decade in him given he takes the opportunity in front of him.
Or could it be that Team Tomic is rotten from the core? Father-coach John is sometimes compared to the infamous Damir Dokic. Is that fair?
Maybe last night we witnessed one of Australia’s biggest sporting stars showing his true colours. Maybe Tomic will forever be tossed into the “could have/should have” category alongside the often compared Mark Phillippoussis.
All I know is feel like my crusade for Australians to support Tomic is dwindling. What can I say to the haters calling him pathetic? I simply have no rebuttal.
Maybe we will never see what Tomic is capable of. Maybe we are yet to see his best.
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