Tournament in Sydney Allows Tomic Father To Attend His Sons Bernie’s Match

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 7th January 2014

BNP Paribas 2013 Masters Tennis Tournament

Tournament in Sydney Allows Tomic Father To Attend His Sons Bernie's Match

epa03927885 Bernard Tomic of Australia returns the ball to Feliciano Lopez of Spain during their first round match at the BNP Paribas 2013 Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, 28 October 2013. EPA/YOAN VALAT |

Organizers of the Apia International Sydney, have turned a blind eye to the ATP World Tour directive that defending champion Bernard Tomic’s banned father John should not be allowed to attend tournaments.

John Tomic, who will most certainly be excluded from next week’s Australian Open in Melbourne, actually sat in his son’s players box at the Homebush Stadium to watch Bernard begin his title defence with a 6-3 6-0 win over Spain’s eighth seeded Marcel Granollers.

Tomic jr. welcomed the relaxation of the rules and said: “Having my dad there for the first time in a while, it’s good. I know his ban will finish very soon, in a few months, and back to helping me. I’m happy.”

The 21 year-old, currently ranked world no.52 and unseeded in the Sydney event, added: “He’s the one that taught me to play like this,” he said. “I spent hours with him that I probably won’t spend with no one in my life. He knows me the best.”

Apia international Sydney tournament director Craig Watson made the decision to allow Tomic senior to come in from the cold after earning notoriety for physically assaulting his son’s hitting partner Bernard Droet and almost ending up in a Madrid prison. Nevertheless John was strictly prohibited from entering the players’ area at the Sydney Olympic Park facility.

“The ATP has banned John Tomic – as is public knowledge – which excludes him from getting credentials and being in other accreditable areas,” Watson said. “There is nothing that prohibits the events agreeing to John being in public areas of the ground and I’ve agreed to allow that to happen.”

Tomic now goes forward to meet Slovenian qualifier Blaz Kavic and he added his initial ATP performance of the year was pleasing after a tricky opening: “I was a little bit tight at the beginning. I felt like after that I was just on the ball. I was trying to focus on my tennis and not on his [Granollers}. Then I managed to play really good and I was happy.”

Topics: 10sballs, Atp World Tour, Bernard Droet, Bernard Tomic, John Tomic, Marcel Granollers, Sports, Sydney, Tennis, Tennis News