Australia is renowned for building up the hopes of young talent only to sit back and gleefully watch those hopes race down the gurgler. But when do hope and the promise of great things transform into wasted talent?
When does the descent from contender to journeyman begin and how far along this slippery slope is Bernard Tomic?
Tomic found himself making the evening news for another tanking effort at last week’s Mexican Open in Acapulco.
After retiring mid-match against American Donald Young, citing the temperature of 27 degrees as ‘unbearable’, he unbelievably returned to the court two hours later to play in a doubles match.
What adds to the strangeness of his behaviour in Acapulco is he was last year’s runner up. Not even the thrill of trying to do one better this year could motivate the Queenslander.
Sadly, this behaviour isn’t out of the ordinary. His unfortunate moniker of ‘Tomic the Tank’ has been building up for the last few years.
He infamously holds the record for the quickest defeat in the ATP, losing to Finn Jarkko Nieminen in 28 minutes, in Miami in 2014. Last year he earned the unenviable title of the man on the ATP with the most in-match retirements, with four.
He’s quite the contrast to Roger Federer who has never retired mid-match.
With this in mind and with Tomic once again on the outer with Australia’s Davis Cup campaign, can we now say he’s gone from contender to journeyman?
Firstly, let’s be clear about what a journeyman is and isn’t.
Contrary to the work experience kid Channel Seven hired to drum up interest in the tennis this past summer, Spain’s David Ferrer is not a journeyman. The Spaniard has the most wins of any man on the ATP who has not won a Grand Slam.
Also contrary to the ineptitude of some American news outlets, Rio silver medalist Juan Martin del Potro is also not a journeyman.
The Argentine, who won the 2009 US Open Championships, has been sidelined for the last two years with injury. His run at the Olympics and his comeback in 2016 was nothing short of a fairytale, coming from an immensely talented player.
Journeymen do not have fairytales.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a journeyman is “an experienced reliable worker, athlete, or performer especially as distinguished from one who is brilliant or colorful”.
We can say Tomic is an experienced tennis player. He turned pro nine years ago and has three career titles.
The final part of this definition is interesting, especially in light of Nick Kyrgios’ invitation to appear at New York’s Madison Square for a World Tennis Day exhibition earlier this week.
Krygios’ immense talent and increased marketability are in stark contrast to Tomic, even though the pair shares a long history of poor behaviour.
Krygios possesses the brilliance and colour that according to the above definition eludes the journeyman. Brillance and colour elude Tomic.
Tomic may not be a journeyman in the style of Julien Benneteau, who has never won an ATP title, but it is clear Tomic’s career is heading down a path not nearly as illustrious as the one he or Australian tennis fans hoped for.
He is honest when quizzed about his work effort or lack of it, but Tomic’s frank admissions that he doesn’t work hard enough is not going to bring him back into the fold of contender.
Nor are his promises that he’ll work harder in 2017.
As his ranking continues to slide it’s now or never for Bernard Tomic to decide if he is going to be a genuine contender or slouch off as a career journeyman.
The days of tennis players peaking at 24 and waltzing off into the sunset of retirement at the age of 25 are over. However, at 24, it’s unlikely Tomic will advance into the top ten or hold aloft a Grand Slam trophy unless something drastic changes.
Torchbearer
Guest
To win a Grand Slam you have to win 7 pressure matches in a row- when you think about that simple fact it becomes obvious someone like Tomic will never win a Grand Slam. It is amazing Stosur managed it - with Serena as the last match at home!
Jock Cornet
Guest
He's an unfit wimp who should be banned for tanking . He is crap and doesn't try or win.
express34texas
Guest
Kate, I agree the term journeyman gets thrown away too much if guys like Ferrer are called that. But, I think you're including way too many players are journeymen as well. Tomic shouldn't even be considered a journeyman. He's been firmly entrenched in the top 100 for a long time, usually top 50 at worst, and wins titles. I can't remember even seeing him play a challenger either. We know who he is, and even though he could/should be a lot better, he's still a very good tennis player. Journeymen bounce around constantly trying to find their games. The new players to the top 100 are almost always young guys. Several top 100 players will play challengers, but this doesn't mean their journeymen either. There's often not enough ATP tourneys for everyone and location is a big factor, as professional tennis on the ATP is played worldwide, as well as surface and injuries matter a lot, too. I'm sure there's a few guys who might be considered journeymen in the top 100, but probably not many.
Kate Smart
Expert
Thanks for your comment, express34texas. I do agree with your points about Stan and Cilic. Interestingly Stan has as many GS titles as Murray. I think there are plenty of players in the Top 100 and even in the Top 50 that you could say are journeyman, of some form. Yes, those exclusively on the Challenger/Futures circuit are journeymen, especially in that very traditional definition of the term, but there are plenty of others who climb higher but aren't contenders. Could Tomic win a GS? I don't think so, but he could do better. Is the problem lack of stamina, no heart or the need to get a coach he's not related to? Well we could debate that all day, which is what we do best here at The Roar!! Thanks again for your comment. I enjoyed reading it.
express34texas
Guest
A journeyman in the NBA is someone who bounces from team to team, almost always a bench player who often can't get many meaningful minutes. Tomic is nowhere near this level, but he's nowhere near being a true contender. Kate, you brought up both extremes, most players are in the middle somewhere that are primarily playing main ATP events. Journeyman play almost entirely on challengers/futures. There's less than 10 true contenders on tour, pretty hard to get that distinction. Tomic is much closer to contender though. He's been firmly inside the top 100 for 5 1/2 years now, except for 2 weeks, and has won 3 titles. He definitely has some talent, but given his results and watching him play, his talent level is much lower than the top guys. If he worked his butt off, maybe he could make some GS SFs or better, but doesn't seem like he will, which if he's fine with, then that's his decision. He did make Wimby QF in 2011 at age 18, beat a couple of ranked players(Davydenko/Soderling-though neither have a good track record there), and took a set off Djoker, who only lost 4 sets all tourney, quite impressive. But, unfortunately for him, he's never been able to capitalize on this early success. He can definitely reach the top 10, but doesn't seem likely, though not everyone in the top 10 is really a contender. He was top 30 all of 2016, and made 2 of his career 6 4th round appearances at GS. But, he's been awful so far in 2017. Every player is different, and maybe he's already peaked. Stanimal's biggest win was a 250 tourney before winning the 2014 AO at age 28. And I don't think Cilic won anything better than a 250 tourney before winning the 2014 USO, so Tomic certainly has time.
Winston
Guest
FrozenNorth, I completely agree. I simply don't think he has enough talent to compete with the top echelon. Obviously we're talking about tennis being played at an immensely high level, so we're not actually saying he's got no talent at all, but I agree he does not have what it takes to get to the top. I think his only strength is creativity the way he sometimes pushes it, sometimes flattens out, sometimes slices the backhand, sometimes dropshots etc. But creativity alone isn't going to be enough. And when we say he doesn't have this or that, again, we're measuring him against the top, not against joe blog down the road. On that measure, I completely agree with you that he doesn't have the power, speed, endurance, mental toughness, big enough serve, good enough return, volleys - it's all above average but just not enough. The problem with him being a journeyman though, is that he doesn't behave like a journeyman. If only he can accept that he will never be the best, but that this is his job which will earn him plenty of dollars, then he will naturally calm the hell down and start performing consistently (eg 3rd round of every grand slam). And that would be perfectly fine. What is it that makes him unable to do that? Is it him? Is it the media? Is it his father? Is it the money?
Kate Smart
Expert
Ah, BrainsTrust, the definition of journeyman is hotly contested in this house!! I specifically mentioned Ferrer and Delpo because they have stupidly been called journeyman and I cannot tell you the anger that has been met with in my house. But you do make a good point about what a journeyman is. Can you be a journeyman even if you have found yourself in the Top 50? I think so if you take the definition from the Websters at the face value of lacking brilliance and colour, which Tomic lacks. In regards to your earlier comment I don't think Tomic is totally talentless and you are right that he's made the Top 50, so he can obviously play. But I do agree with FrozenNorth that he lacks what Djokovic and Murray have and that he's not going to make the Top 10. I don't think anything can change that and I can't see him winning a Slam, although Tour events are well within his reach. Thanks for the comment.
BrainsTrust
Guest
You said Tomic has no talent in addition to lacking power,stamina, fitness and endurance. I would agree on the last three, the other thing is Tomic is not a great mover, while power is not his main game he can still hit a ball so I would diasgree there, the only explanation is that he must have talent because otherwise he would be outside the top 500. The fact that Tomic has won 3 ATP titles, gotten to no 17, and he has made a qf of a grand slam back in 2011 can only be because he actually has talent because he lacks almost everything else. I would say his talent has been undeveloped as he doesn't train as much as others, unless Tomic knuckles down soon it will all go to waste.
BrainsTrust
Guest
I thought a jounreyman in tennis was those a lot further back in the rankings. Those who play in the minor tennis tournaments.
Kate Smart
Expert
Agree FrozenNorth. His best Grand Slam showing is a QF at Wimbledon in 2011. I can't see him bettering that or making top 10 either, but he could do better than what he's done. Perhaps I could have been clearer about my use of the word contender. I didn't mean it as solely in terms of Grand Slam success. As I pointed out in the piece, Ferrer has never won a major but that doesn't make him a hack of the pro tennis circuit. Thanks for the comment.
FrozenNorth
Guest
Forget the personality for a second, I am a tennis nut and never saw the talent people speak of. He nerfs the ball around instead of hitting it and without the power he does not have the stamina, fitness or endurance to pull a murray or Djokovic and retrieve for 5 hours. he will never make the semis of a major or the top 10.