Wimbledon fines Bernard Tomic $56K for failing to meet 'professional standard' in blowout loss
Australian tennis pro Bernard Tomic lost his first-round match at Wimbledon on Tuesday to France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.
The match took 58 minutes — the shortest Wimbledon contest in 15 years — and Tomic drew widespread criticism on social media for an embarrassing effort and not respecting the game.
Tomic docked entire paycheck for effort
On Thursday, Tomic lost his paycheck.
The All-England club announced in a statement that Tomic would be docked £45,000 ($56,100) — the entirety of his prize money for the first-round loss — because he “did not perform to the required professional standard.”
“All players are expected to perform to a professional standard in every Grand Slam match,” the statement form the All-England club read. “With respect to first-round performance, if in the opinion of the referee the player did not perform to the required professional standard, the referee may determine that the player be subject to a fine of up to first-round prize money.
“It is the opinion of the referee that the performance of Bernard Tomic in his first-round match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga did not meet required professional standards, and therefore he has been fined the maximum amount of £45,000 which will be deducted from prize money.”
Tomic has the option to appeal.
‘Pretty terrible’
He admitted after the loss Tuesday to playing “a pretty terrible match” while bypassing a question on his effort.
“Next question please,” Tomic said.
Not Tomic’s first Wimbledon fine
It’s not the first time Tomic has been docked pay at Wimbledon. The No. 96 player in the world was fined $15,000 for losing a 2017 match where he admitted to being “a little bit bored out there.”
"I feel holding a trophy or, you know, doing well, it doesn't satisfy me anymore," Tomic said after the 2017 loss. "It's not there. I couldn't care less if I make a fourth-round U.S. Open or I lose first round. To me, everything is the same."
‘Tomic the Tank Engine’
Tomic’s perceived regular lack of effort earned him the moniker “Tomic the Tank Engine” in Australian media.
A Miami crowd jeered him in 2013 at the Sony Open for his performance against Andy Murray.
Tomic set a record for the shortest match in ATP history in 2014 in a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Jarkko Nieminen at the 2014 Sony Open.
Fellow athletes critical of fine
Despite Tomic’s attitude, he received support from several fellow tennis players after the fine, including Tsonga.
"That's touchy,” Tsonga said of the fine. “Because you never — they will do that with him and not with others? And I think it's a little bit too much," Tsonga told reporters.
"In the third set he played and it was tight. And I played well to win this set. So I don't know."
American Sloane Stephens echoed Tsonga’s sentiments in regard to protecting players’ paychecks.
"When you start doing that and being the judge of what happens and how people earn a living, that's when it gets a little tricky," she told reporters.
Kyrgios: Tsonga an ‘unbelievable player’
Fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios, who’s facing his own Wimbledon controversy for aiming a ball at Rafael Nadal’s chest in a loss, stuck up for his countryman.
"I think it's a little rough, maybe, [to take] all of the prize money," Kyrgios said after his second-round, four-set loss to Rafael Nadal.
"I mean, one, Tsonga is an unbelievable player.
"Two, I think people when they watch Bernard they just think because he moves a little slow and he plays the game a little slower, and he doesn't look maybe as engaged as say a [Pablo] Carreño Busta or something, they just assume he's not trying, or not giving 100 percent.
"I don't agree with fining the guy all of his prize money.”
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