Bernard Tomic is promising to take his tennis career more seriously as he makes one final attempt to restart his faltering career.
Tomic has barely been sighted on the court over the last few years due to injuries and a lack of professionalism.
In 2011, Tomic shocked the tennis world when at just 18 years of age he made the Wimbledon quarter-finals. Since then, his career has been derailed by off-court scandals and confrontations with the media.
In an interview after losing in the first round of the 2018 Australian Open qualifying, Tomic famously told a reporter “End of the day, don’t like me or whatever. Just go back dreaming about your dream car or house while I go buy them.” While there have been numerous false dawns that Bernard Tomic will start taking his career more seriously, this time around the Queenslander insists things are different, and he seems more determined to succeed than ever before.
"I can't give up. I'm back, I am. I'm hungry and I'm ready. No one can stop me now, but me. I'm training, I'm sweating, I'm pushing, I'm fired up. Whatever it takes to get to the top. It's time to set the record straight," Tomic said in a video posted to his Instagram profile.
Speaking to The Functional Tennis Podcast, Tomic acknowledged that he has struggled with his professionalism in the past: “I wasn’t very professional with the outside (off the court) stuff I was doing, with the eating and the training”.
But now the 29 year old has made changes to his lifestyle which he hopes will benefit him on the court.
Drawing inspiration from a number of the world’s top athletes including Novak Djokovic, Tomic revealed he’s now adopted a vegan diet. “I love it, a lot of successful people are vegan. I’m a proud vegan. Novak (Djokovic) actually got me onto it," Tomic said.
In his bid to regain the form that saw him reach the top 20 in the world as a teenager, Tomic expressed his desire to resurrect his career: “I’d like to turn things around and do much better than I did in the past”.
Currently ranked a lowly 260 in the world, Tomic has been posting videos of himself training hard on the court and working out in the gym in preparation for what he hopes will be a successful Australian Open Qualifying campaign.
“I’d like to finish in the top 100 at the end of 2022. Push forward in the next couple of years to potentially reach the top 10”.
It’s no secret that Australians love a redemption story. While Tomic’s past may be too painful for some to overlook, I think he deserves one last chance to show Australia he means business.
The new Bernard Tomic is working hard, partying less, and eager to prove to Australia that his 2011 Wimbledon quarter-final appearance won’t be his last.
Comentarios