Bernard Tomic Has A Chance To Make Up

Written by: Staff on 24th December 2012

ATP PTT Thailand Open tennis tournament in Bangkok

Bernard Tomic Has A Chance To Make Up

epa03411908 Bernard Tomic of Australia returns the ball to Dudi Sela of Israel during their second round match at the ATP PTT Thailand Open tennis tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, 27 September 2012. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT |

Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic has a chance to wipe the slate clean after a disheartening 2012 season and begin afresh at the Hopman Cup. Next weekend’s start of the international team competition in Perth will be the chance for the 20-year-old to show that his lack of effort in late 2012 was only a passing phase.

A sympathetic home crowd reception is the hope of tournament officials, who have put together a field also featuring world No. 1 Novak Djokovic for Serbia, evergreen 34-year-old German Tommy Haas and Italy’s Andreas Seppi – all ranked higher that the No. 52 Aussie.

Tomic drew fire and was subsequently left off the Davis Cup team for the opening 2013 tie after admitting that he barely put in the effort on court during the autumn.

But Hopman tournament director Steve Ayles told local media that all of that should be forgotten. “There’s no concern whatsoever. He knows that this is the start of a new year, it’s time to put 2012 behind him; and he knows he’s got to give 100 per cent the whole time and I think that starts right here in Perth.

“This is the platform for him to show exactly what he has been doing in the off-season and that he is ready for this challenge. History tells us whenever he is presented with a challenge, he rises to it.”

“We’ve all been a teenager and we’ve all made a few mistakes and we’ve all learnt from them and he’s no different to any of us and I think the public has some sort of sympathy for that,” he said. “He’s had a tough year in 2012 and if he’s going to go forward and be one of the great players that everybody knows he has the potential to be, then he’s got to start showing that right now.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Australian tennis news, Bernard Tomic, Hopman Cup, Sports, Tennis News