Australia Drops Bernard Tomic From Davis Cup Team

Written by: Staff on 6th December 2012

Australia Drops Bernard Tomic From Davis Cup Team

epa03413652 Bernard Tomic of Australia returns the ball to Richard Gasquet of France in their quarter final match at the Thailand Open tennis tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, 28 September 2012. Gasquet won 7-6(5) and 6-4. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT |

The recent poor competitive reputation of Bernard “The Tank Engine” Tomic has resulted in the unreliable youngster being dropped from consideration from the Australian side which will play the Davis Cup first round February 1-3 in Kaohsiung against Taiwan.

Tomic, 20, and recently the heir-apparent to the legacy of Lleyton Hewitt and Patrick Rafter will not play a role in the side due to his recent lack of commitment on the ATP ands suspicions of “tanking” matches.

After admitting that he gave “85 per cent” during a loss to Florian Mayer at the October Shanghai Masters, Tomic’s fate appears to have been sealed. The one-time No. 27 (now 52nd) now stands as Aussie No. 2 behind Marinko Matosevic in the national pecking order.

“As a team, we just felt that part of the commitment that we make to athletes and athletes make to the sport is they always put 100 per cent commitment and effort in competing for their country,” Tennis Australia director of tennis Craig Tiley told the federation website.

“It’s not one specific incident, just an aggregation of his approach to the game. We just felt that this decision should provide additional motivation every time he walks on the court to be a total professional in his approach to not only his preparation but competing in the match and post-match

“And it would be no different if he was the number one player in Australia, or the No. 1 player, or a junior.”

Australia will be fighting yet again for a return to the elite Davis World group after failing in a bid versus Germany last autumn with 31-year-old veteran and Davis campaigner Hewitt expected to join Matosevic on the squad.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Austalian Davis Cup, Australian Open, Australian tennis news, Bernard Tomic, Davis Cup, Lleyton Hewitt, Patrick Rafter, The Tank Engine