BERNIE TOMIC’S FATHER JOHN HAS PROBLEMS WITH TENNIS AUSTRALIA, THIS TIME IT’S SISTER SARA TOMIC

Written by: Staff on 24th September 2014

BNP Paribas 2013 Masters Tennis Tournament

BERNIE TOMIC'S FATHER JOHN HAS PROBLEMS WITH TENNIS AUSTRALIA, THIS TIME IT'S SISTER SARA TOMIC

epa03927887 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 |

John Tomic’s notoriety in tennis circles has struck again as his displeasure with Tennis Australia’s youth policy has resulted in him withdrawing 16 year-old daughter Sara from the national academy program.

After being allowed back into the tennis fold to coach son Bernard following a one-year ban from the altercation with hitting partner, Thomas Drouet that saw Tomic senior receive suspended jail sentence from Spanish authorities, the games current most notorious parent has kept a low profile for the last four months.

But he has broken cover to speak out after Sara’s junior ranking dropped from the worlds 36th best in January to a current position of 80. Speaking to the Melbourne Age newspaper, Tomic maintained: It makes me realize this program is not for her and I pulled her out. The program was not suitable for player that wants to improve.

Tomic added the Tennis Australia program, which he insisted only included 60-70 minutes of actual court time each day, might suit college players but he thought his daughter possessed more talent and ability. He added that the decision to give Australian nationality and integrate talented young female players Croatian-born Ajla Tomljanovic (currently ranked 68th on the WTA world rankings) and Russian-born Daria Gavrilova ( a former top ranked junior) was denying opportunities to players like his daughter.

Both played under the Australian banner at the recent US Open and Tomic complained: They are buying players from overseas, which means they are not able to make any from Australia’s million talented kids.

Australian Bernard Tomic celebrates a point against Dominican Victor Estrelladuring their match at the Claro Open Colombia held in Bogota, Colombia, 19 July 2014. EPA/Mauricio Duenas Castaneda

“Because we are buying players, we can’t invest in our players. You are buying Ajla, and the other girl, who is 350 in the world, and you don’t want to put $200,000 into Sara or some other kid around. What’s going on?’

Tennis Australia refuted Tomic’s claims and maintained young players on the program got far more court time. However Scott Draper, the former ATP World Tour player and current Manager of Developmental Tennis at Melbourne Park defended the program when he said: We understand it’s not necessarily going to work for everyone all the time.

“Sara is a super kid and a talented young player. Of course we want to see her succeed and we’ve supported her incredibly well.”

The Tomic family moved from their former Gold Coast home to Melbourne in late 2013 so Sara could be closer to her training base.

Topics: Atp, Bernard Tomic, John Tomic, Sara Tomic, Tennis Australia, Wta

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10sBalls_com says:

September 24, 2014 at 11:08 am

BERNIE TOMIC’S FATHER JOHN HAS PROBLEMS WITH #TENNIS #AUSTRALIA, THIS TIME IT’S SISTER SARA #TOMIC- http://t.co/6RyeTQiMEF #ATP
badwinners says:

September 24, 2014 at 11:09 am

RT @10sBalls_com: BERNIE TOMIC’S FATHER JOHN HAS PROBLEMS WITH #TENNIS #AUSTRALIA, THIS TIME IT’S SISTER SARA #TOMIC- http://t.co/6RyeTQiME…
lawanda50 says:

September 24, 2014 at 11:11 am

RT @10sBalls_com: BERNIE TOMIC’S FATHER JOHN HAS PROBLEMS WITH #TENNIS #AUSTRALIA, THIS TIME IT’S SISTER SARA #TOMIC- http://t.co/6RyeTQiME…
van_der_wijden says:

September 24, 2014 at 11:42 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: BERNIE TOMIC’S FATHER JOHN HAS PROBLEMS WITH #TENNIS #AUSTRALIA, THIS TIME IT’S SISTER SARA #TOMIC- http://t.co/6RyeTQiME…