Australian Bernard Tomic will miss at least the next three months of ATP play as the 21-year-old undergoes surgery for a hip defect which doctors say he has carried unknowingly for a decade and which has surely affected his tennis.
The No. 57 who has attracted heavy criticism – especially at home during the Australian Open – for an apparent lack of effort on court, will not be able to appear for Australia during a Davis Cup first-round tie in France next weekend.
Melbourne’s Sunday Herald reported that Tomic was told by doctors that his hip problem called femoralacetabular impingement requires an immediate operation which will keep him off the courts well into the European clay-court season.
The operation will be performed in Melbourne next week. Doctors said that he has probably suffered from the condition over the past 10 years without knowing it. Tomic quit his first-round match this week against Rafael Nadal after one set, saying he could not go on with the pain of what was diagnosed as an adductor muscle tear.
Doctors say that Australian footballers who have undergone a similar surgery have come back to top competitive form. The adductor injury is said to have brought the previous condition to light.
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