Darren Cahill Speaks Out About Tomic

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 17th January 2014

Darren Cahill Speaks Out About Tomic

epa04020305 Bernard Tomic of Australia in action during his match against Rafael Nadal of Spain on day two of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 14 January 2014. EPA/MARK DADSWELL AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Darren Cahill has long been regarded as the measured Australian voice of tennis. His commentary work with ESPN and his stellar coaching of both Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi to the world no.1 ranking earned him great respect. Now Cahill has serious words of warning for Bernard Tomic that the emergence of Aussie teenagers Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis could have a serious effect on his earning power.

Tomic’s continued negligent attitude could jeopardize the imminent re-signing of his endorsement deals with Nike and racket manufacturer Yonex. But financial shock of losing such contracts might just finally jolt the 21 year-old from his inertia.

Cahill said: “This could be the best thing for him, because a lot of the contracts will start drying up if he has his ranking around 50, 60 at the end of this year, and with these young guns coming through, the attention will go to that next generation.”

There was not a major criticism of Tomic’s swift retirement against Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open’s first round, Cahill put that down to the simple misfortune of suffering a groin injury after playing his way to last week’s Apia International Sydney.

Cahill maintained: “There’s no criticism of the way he plays in Australia, because it’s always been very good. But it’s what he does outside of Australia, and a lot of those matches where he doesn’t run out.

”And we struggle with that, as Australians, having that competitive instinct, and I think that’s why the Australian public really have struggled to get behind him 100 per cent.

”Hewitt always leaves his heart and soul on the tennis courts. With Tomic, it’s a little bit like the boy who cried wolf: you have that sort of attitude all the time, and the one time you are injured and you should do the right thing and not play, everyone doesn’t believe you.”

Cahill’s ESPN colleague Patrick McEnroe admitted he held the young Aussie duo of Kyrgios and Kokkinakis in high regard. “’These guys seem to love the stage, love to be out there, and this could be – it could be – the best thing that could ever happen to Tomic, because he has showed flashes of brilliance on the court, especially down here,” said the general manager of player development at the US Tennis Association.

”I said this after the match: ‘any of these young guys coming up, if you don’t do everything it takes, it’s just not gonna happen’ and I keep hearing Tomic say ‘oh, I’m young’. You’re not that young any more, buddy, you’re not that young, you’re 21 or 22.

”You see how far the bar has been raised with Nadal, Djokovic, with what they’re doing, with what Serena’s doing on the women’s side now and that’s a lot to have to live up to just to try to compete with them, and clearly Tomic hasn’t done that.

American television commentator Patrick John McEnroe has told Australian underachiever Bernard Tomic to pull his socks up if he wants to lift his lagging tennis to world-class standards. The younger brother of John hinted in an ESPN telecast said that the 21-year-old is running out of excuses while the Australian public is running out of patience with the designated heir apparent to Lleyton Hewitt.

The 57th-ranked Tomic, occasionally known as “Tomic the tank engine” for past tendencies to quit or get injured in the heat of battle, pulled up lame during his first-round match and retired after losing a 41-minute set against Rafael Nadal. The groin injury, while later proved totally legitimate, still did not wash with the local public, which roundly booed their player.

“He hasn’t dotted every I and crossed every T off the court (with) his fitness, his training, his regimen, his team around him,” McEnroe, also employed by the US federation, said. “He’s had a lot of chaos around him. The reality is it’s catching up with him a little bit.

“Obviously if you get injured in the middle of a match, it’s probably smart to pull out of the match. But the public here doesn’t have a lot of trust in what he (Tomic) says and what he does.”

Topics: 10sballs, Australian Open, Bernard Tomic, Darren Cahill, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News