Tomic, Reid & other sorry Aussie tales of woe

[janie]

Move over Damir Dokic
Article from: The Daily Telegraph

By Nikki Tugwell

December 06, 2008 12:00am

AUSTRALIAN tennis fans will be forgiven for having a sense of deja vu after the great white hope of the sport, Bernard Tomic, was hauled off the court in Perth by his father.

Echoing the sentiments of notorious tennis dad Damir Dokic, John Tomic has accused organisers of the Sorrento tournament in Perth of conspiring against his 16-year-old son.

Tomic, who quit studies at the end of year 10 to concentrate on tennis, is coached by his father.

Tomic Sr accused match officials of scheming against Bernard and organisers of "fixing draws" before pulling his son out of the tennis event.

The junior world No. 3 was competing against fellow Australian Marinko Matisevic in round two of the Sorrento Men's International when his father complained that foot faults were not being called.

"He was serving about 10-15cm inside the court and I said to the umpire, 'can you please watch the foot faults'," Tomic Sr said.

Tomic Sr said "seven or eight" foot faults were not called in the first set.

He did not protest at the time but could not refrain from complaining in the second set when he believed it was happening again. The umpire issued Bernard a court violation after the outburst and handed Matisevic - who was seeded fifth in the ITF-sanctioned event - the game to make it 3-1, which brought the second-round clash to an abrupt end.

"In the second set, same story," he said, referring to the uncalled foot faults.

"So I said to the umpire again, please can you watch for foot faults and he gave the game straight to the opponent.

"He said 'the top guy of umpires' who was present at the game 'was laughing at me'. There were 15 umpires sitting there just eating and drinking so they should have put more umpires on the court but they didn't. How can Bernard play when he does not have protection from the umpires?"

Tennis Australia has called for a report from tournament organisers into the circumstances surrounding Tomic's actions in walking off the court.

With no Australian player currently in the top 50, Tomic is the future hope for Australia.

The youngest boy ever to win the Australian Open junior title has previously said he wants to be No. 1 by the age of 18. [actually he probably WILL be No. 1 Aussie Asshole, if Hewitt retires]

He is scheduled to contest the Australian Open wildcard playoff in Melbourne next week.

"Bernard is the best prospect in the world and for Australia," his father said. "He's working very hard. He could be Australia's best player. He could play Davis Cup. But they (umpires) don't want to do honest things by him on the court."

A number of Australian tennis icons believe Tomic is attempting to play senior tennis prematurely.

"If he is playing these senior events and he is losing first rounds, he is not going to get any matchplay," says John Newcombe.

"He has had a number of different coaches working with him over the past 12 months . . . so there seems to be a little bit of a situation there that I'm not too privy too."

Mark Woodforde questioned his choice of coaches back in July. The former doubles champion said he was "bewildered" that Tomic was working with English coaches (David Felgate and Jeremy Bates) at Wimbledon.

[DBBN]

I thought Chris Guccione and Todd Reid were the future hopes for Australia. Oh wait, they suck, just like this guy will.

[janie]

Ah, so here's what happened to Todd Reid:

Out of sight but not forgotten

Linda Pearce
December 7, 2008

IF BERNARD Tomic is the current wonderboy of Australian tennis, then Todd Reid is its forgotten man.

Reid won the 2002 Wimbledon junior title and was on the verge of the top 100 in seniors when illness and injury intervened. The glorious career he had planned since accepting a scholarship to Nick Bollettieri's Florida academy at the age of 13 remains painfully unfulfilled.

Last Monday, Reid awoke at his Sydney home nursing a bicep strained during a lowly Futures tournament in Perth. It was just his third event this year, and a ranking below 1000 forced the former Davis Cup player to qualify for the main draw. But, once there, Reid reached the last four, his victims including second seed Marinko Matosevic and — thrillingly and rather poignantly — Tomic, whom he trailed by a set and 0-3 in the second round.

Then, the luck that has deserted Reid for so long again departed, forcing the 24-year-old to forfeit his semi-final against eventual champion Andrew Coelho after just five games. The right arm soreness he had earlier in the tournament flared in the warm-up and it was soon apparent that he could not continue. He caught the next flight back east.

The Sunday Age spoke briefly to Reid in Perth, but follow-up calls to conduct the interview as arranged went unreturned. Tennis Australia has confirmed he has entered the 16-man Australian Open wildcard play-off, starting tomorrow week, but the rankings reality of No. 1020 means that his fate is for tournament director Craig Tiley and others to decide.

Still, however incremental, Reid can be encouraged that he is making progress at last. If we all know that junior success is no guarantee of anything except heightened expectations, his story is not just a cautionary tale for Tomic, but a sorry one for a keen tennis talent. While lacking a Philippoussis serve or Rafter net game, Reid was a natural and instinctive player whose future was considered so bright that he was the subject of a 3000-word profile in The New York Times and had reportedly earned $450,000 in sponsorship before his 14th birthday.

Since then, injuries have included patella tendonitis, a sprained ankle and a pre-stress fracture in an arm, while a severe bout of glandular fever has apparently never quite been shaken.

Reid peaked at No. 105 just over four years ago, his finest senior moment coming when he vomited his way through the latter stages of a five-set defeat of Sargis Sargsian on Vodafone Arena to reach the 2004 Open's third round.

Even in mid-2005, Reid still hovered just outside the top 200, but in the past three seasons he has played just five events and none at all in 2007, when few in Australian tennis knew where he was or what he was doing. He resumed in April this year, promptly reaching a Futures final in Spain.

In Perth, Reid spoke of the need to work on his fitness, in particular, while others acknowledged his undoubted ability to still play the game, although whether that translates to ATP level remains to be seen. There may be a Plan B, however, as the boy who grew up in his parents' Sydney tennis centre is now doing some coaching of his own, having earned less than $2000 in prizemoney in 2008.

How long ago that heady Wimbledon Sunday now seems, when Reid's junior triumph was overshadowed only by Lleyton Hewitt's victory in the main event. More than six years later, Hewitt's decorated career hobbles into its twilight, while the challenge for his one-time understudy is to stay healthy long enough to prove that forgotten does not necessarily mean finished.

[janie]

Dragged to the top now that Bernie's a big star. Thanks, Willow!

[DBBN]

Dec 6, 2008 11:46:20 GMT -5 DBBN said:

I thought Chris Guccione and Todd Reid were the future hopes for Australia. Oh wait, they suck, just like this guy will.

Oops!

[Brinyi]

Jun 27, 2011 7:39:08 GMT -5 janie said:

Dragged to the top now that Bernie's a big star. Thanks, Willow!

Satan is in his supporters' group. No more need be said.