Bernie the Bored

Bernard Tomic is back in the headlines again, and not for his tennis. Again. Well, his tennis has a minor role in his resurgence into public consciousness, but his words, as usual, are the primary culprits in this new wave of outcry and backlash.

After his first-round Wimbledon loss to Mischa Zverev in straight sets, Tomic aired his feelings regarding his performance to the world, telling reporters he was "bored" on court. Moving past the cringe-worthy word choice, listen to (most of) the rest of his weirdly introspective and existential post-loss press:



Listen, I get it. Bernie is a human being, a pragmatic 24-year-old individual in the midst of a career crisis. I was once his age, not sure where my career was going, wondering if the daily grind on the road to success was even worth the struggle. Hell, I'm still there! I can understand that he no longer sees Wimbledon as this holy grail that us common tennis folk revere beyond anything else in the sport. To Bernie, The Championships is just another tournament in which to earn a decent paycheck. Like your performance review, it's on your calendar year after year. Unless you go into Wimbledon with a shot at the title, the magic of the place has probably long dissipated and you naturally tune out of the whole spectacle.

On the other hand, I do not get, nor do I accept, his willful throwing of the towel. Bernard Tomic has been blessed with height, coordination, feel, and frame. He has been granted financial support and various opportunities in his life and profession. This amount of luck only comes to a handful of the global population, yet he goes through the motions as if he's working a 9-to-5 desk job just to pay the bills and treat himself every now and then (even though that's also something to be thankful for!). Tomic has been a professional athlete for quite some time now and he must know that saying he's bored, and playing like he couldn't care less, is just not a good look for someone who, although faces trials and tribulations, is blessed beyond measure.

As much as we want to relate to tennis players and their lives, we are not them. They are not us. Bernie's job is not my job. Bernie lives a mostly charmed life, even relative to his fellow tennis pros. He's paid quite handsomely for someone who's bored at work and can retire at 35 and not work another day in his life, according to him. I appreciate his honesty and introspection, but I roll my eyes at the utter lack of gratitude and awareness of just how goddamn lucky he is to be born with a money-generating talent and to have that talent cultivated from a young age onward.

It seems as though Bernie knows where he's going astray, however. He knows he's not training as hard or giving his total focus to his career. He could, and should, do better. Yes, he is unlikely to win a Grand Slam title, but he could look to someone like Tomas Berdych for some light inspiration. Berdych is seen as a total underachiever with few trophies to his name, but he's made so much bank in his career by getting as close to maximizing his God-given talent as he could. The seemingly disenchanted Tomic can do the same, if only to beef up his 401K. If Tomic tried harder, even if he didn't want to win titles, he would make more money more quickly, and can retire even earlier than originally planned! I just pray he doesn't get injured or else he might have to page through the classifieds ten years from now.

Edit: Tomic has since been fined $15,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct stemming from his comments. He has also been dropped by his racquet sponsor, Head.

Less is More in 2-0-1-4

It's a new year, a new tennis season, and a new slew of things that I want to complain about! This year, less is more. Here are a few things I would like to see less of to make tennis more enjoyable in 2014:

1. Less injuries. They suck. One reason why the Australian Open was so lackluster in 2013 was Nadal's absence due to his health problems. Injuries and pull-outs are a part of tennis, but seeing less of them this year would be awesome.
2. Less chair umpire involvement in matches. Looking at you Mohamed Lahyani.
3. Less fan rowdiness. I'm all for cheering on your guy like heck, but when someone has been trying to serve for the last five minutes, just stfu. Please.
4. Less piling on. Some of the media have a tendency to hop on the bash bandwagon rather quickly, whether it's directed at Victoria Azarenka or Sloane Stephens or Bernard Tomic or Donald Young, then change tact when that player achieves something to earn praise. A little more perspective, both ways, really makes a difference.
5. Less blatantly pronouncing names wrong. Dear Greg Garber, it's Djo-ko-VITCH, not Djo-ko-VICK. Get yourself together. Sincerely, literally everyone remotely paying attention to tennis within the last six years.
6. Fewer articles about Venus/Serena skipping Indian Wells. Their decision is final, stop harping on about it.
7. Fewer complaints about grunting. Why that's stopping you from watching great tennis, I will never know.
8. Less courteousness among the players. Give me all of the drama. Andy Murray agrees.
9. Fewer television coverage issues. See ATP Miami final on CBS. Or only see up until it gets to a final-set tiebreaker, then search for a completely different means to the watch the conclusion of the match, with none of those means being related to CBS or Tennis Channel or Tennis TV. Yeah, it was THAT dumb.



Less violating the net...

10. Less surface homogenization. I just want Tsvetana Pironkova to make a Wimbledon final. Or, at the very least, fewer of the same names left standing at the end of each tournament year-round.

What do you want to see less of this season? Leave a comment and complain away. The Australian Open is just days away! Prepping myself for less sleep.

Parents Just Don't Understand

You gotta feel for Bernard Tomic.

To recap today's tennis news: John Tomic, Bernie's father and coach, was arrested today in Madrid for allegedly assaulting his son's hitting partner, Thomas Drouet. There are also reports of Bernie being physically abused by his father at Monte Carlo, coming away from the attack bleeding.

First, let's all remember that Bernie Tomic is only 20 years old. He's still a kid, as talented as he is. He's been put in an incredibly tough, high-pressure situation. He still really cares for his dad and it would have been hard to criticize Bernie for not getting rid of him from the very first signs of danger.

But after today, enough is enough.

This relationship, as it stands right now, is not working. Whatever pressure he may feel at home or around his family should disappear on the tennis court. Unfortunately for Bernie, his family life and his career have bled together to form a private-turned-public hell. The only way to achieve clarity is to remove his dad from his tennis completely.

We've all seen the crazed parent of a star athlete of all stages, from elementary school soccer to professional tennis. None of their children benefit by their over-involvement. In Bernie's case, he's clearly being negatively affected by his father's antics. I can't help but think back to all the times Bernie has lacked in effort and translate those instances into mental exhaustion. With his father being so close in proximity day-in and day-out, both Bernie's immediate and distant future is at great risk of being completely derailed.

Bernie is at a crossroads, but I don't think it could come at a better time. Should he get rid of his dad once and for all, he may finally feel free of the emotional burden tennis has brought him and let his all-court talent, and love for the game, shine through. No one deserves this treatment from anyone, let alone their own parent. I hope Bernie understands this.

Semis Are Set Sans Serena

Okay, no time because because the the women's semifinals start in a few minutes/seconds, but I must address a few things about what we've seen this past week:

Sloane Stephens defeats a hobbled Serena. I'm thoroughly shocked at the outcome because Serena seemed to have felt better physically in the third set, but so very happy for the teenager. Sloane is here to stay!

Djokovic wins five-set epic against Stan Wawrinka. Once again, Nole had me awake all hours of the night and 'til the wee hours of the morning. A challenge here or there could have altered the complexion of the final moments, but Djokovic prevails.

Sharapova rolling through her opponents. She must have eaten a truckload of these because she is riding the longest sugar-high ever. With Serena out, she has to be the new favorite (Sorry, Vika).

DelPo ousted early. Very disappointing result Down Under. There is a big ol' brick wall in front of him at the majors and he needs to figure out how to scale it. And quick.

Federer schools the cool kids in class. Roger has the most varied offensive arsenal in tennis history and he showed it against two vastly different youngsters. He showed Tomic what finesse was about and he outserved Raonic. The old guy's still got the goods.

Anyway, gotta run! Enjoy the rest of the Australian Open! Sure to be an exciting finish :)

Hot In Hurr'

102 degree whether not withstanding, it has been a blazing-hot Aussie Open two rounds in! The race for the second week has reached a fever pitch and there are some blockbuster matches for us all to drool over.

So what happened through two rounds down under? Well, for those of you too lazy to bother watching, there's been a lot of this:

...major hubbub about this:

...too much of this, and EVERYONE is talking about this:

And I didn't even mention Tomic's cheekiness or Jerzy Janowicz's craziness.

Now it's time to look forward to the third round where there are a handful of intriguing matchups to grab our attention, but none bigger than MaSha vs. Venus. Venus is playing really well and is 2-0 vs. Maria on the GS stage, but Ms. Sugarpova has been beating the daylights out of her opponents so far (see bagel picture above). Venus, however, is a veteran who moves well and hits almost as hard as MaSha, so I do not expecting anything remotely close to a bagel. Still, MaSha's heavy hitting game is a little more consistent so I pick her to win in three tight sets.

Another interesting match up is our new favorite hot-head Jerzy Janowicz against Nico Almagro. They both have big serves, Almagro has the beautiful one-handed backhand, and Janowicz has the huge forehand that can cause damage. What impressed me about JJ was his ability to comeback from two sets down in his now infamous match against Devvarman and I worry about Nico's concentration in long battles. I have Janowicz in 5.

Lastly, our two favorite English-speaking youngsters on the WTA face up. Laura Robson, pseudo-hometown favorite in Melbourne, is just coming off an 11-9 third-set triumph against 8th seeded Petra Kvitova. The bubbly Sloane Stephens had two fairly routine wins in the early rounds against unseeded opponents. There is much at stake for both of these women as the winner of this match would be the favorite in the Round of 16 to get to the quarterfinals. Their most recent meeting was a straight-set victory by Stephens, so I will have to take her in three sets. Still, I may be a bit of a homer for picking her (USA! USA!).

Anyone disagree with my analyses? Any other matches to keep our eye on as we head towards the weekend? Leave a comment and discuss! And remember to hydrate, wear sunscreen, and keep your wide-brimmed hats close.

Horsin' Around

Boooooriiiiiiing. Even they look bored by their own victories.

Here I was thinking we would have an exciting weekend of tennis full of surprise titlists, but we were thwarted by the usual suspects.

Serena winning the WTA Premier in Brisbane. Andy, Aga, Li Na, Tipsy, Gasquet winning the smaller events in their respective tours. I thought Dimitrov had a real shot against an out-of-form Murray, but it wasn't meant to be. There was one small upset with Spain winning the Hopman Cup over Serbia! One out of seven ain't bad...

This week am hopeful...nay, EXPECTING a dark horse to triumph! The fields the week before the commencement of a Slam are much more manageable for second-tier players, and those preceding the Australian Open this year continue that trend (except WTA Sydney, which is somehow a Premier event, but that's a complaint for another paragraph...).

I will take advantage of one of the four weeks out of the year when you can make what would normally be a dark horse pick and have a decent chance of being right! 

Sloane Stephens is obviously my choice for the Hobart title. She's going in with a lot of momentum and confidence. Benoit Paire is a good pick for Auckland. He's talented and is coming off a doubles title in Chennai. Dare I believe in Bernie Tomic once again? His road to redemption has been very encouraging in this early part of the season going 3-0 in his singles matches in Perth, including a huge win against Novak Djokovic. Hopefully he can keep his focus for an entire week to bag the ATP Sydney title.

I would pick a second-tier player for the WTA Sydney tourney, but the first SEVEN SEEDS are in the Top 10. Picking a dark horse would be silly.

Seriously, WTA, what is with the Premier events a week before Slams?? This happens at New Haven, too. Encourage these girls to focus on the real prize instead of a relatively unimportant tournament. Notice how out of those seven Top 10-ers, NONE are in the Big Three. Tells you what's on the minds of the 2012 Grand Slam winners. That's right, a GRAND SLAM. </rant>

Who wants to challenge these picks? Anyone think an even darker horse will raise a trophy? Anyone brave enough to go chalk (a risky pick in itself considering the abundance of dangerous floaters)? Leave a comment to make a bold selection or bash the WTA schedulers.