He’s one of the most controversial characters in tennis, seen as the bad boy of the sport, but Bernard Tomic swears he’s been unfairly judged.
In an interview with 60 Minutes tonight, the tennis star – who has been embroiled in a bitter feud with Lleyton Hewitt throughout this year’s Australian Open – has attempted to set the record straight on their tense relationship.
The feud was thrust into the spotlight when Tomic criticised Hewitt in a fiery press conference following his first round loss to Croatia’s Marin Cilic.
Tomic claimed that “no one likes [Hewitt]” , with his father John Tomic adding that Hewitt traumatised his son in 2010. He said Hewitt threatened a 17-year-old Tomic in a hotel room, telling him he would never play in the Davis Cup again if he didn’t reveal who was "against him" at Tennis Australia.
Hewitt then alleged that Tomic had threatened both him and his family.
“I think the threats that I’ve received for me and my family, the abuse that I copped from him,” Hewitt said at a press conference.
“I don’t think anyone would reach out to a person who speaks like that.”
Tonight, interviewed alongside his father, John Tomic - who is often criticised as one of the most overbearing parents in the sport - Tomic hit back at his critics and made further claims of his own.
“I was intimidated. I was harassed,” he tells 60 Minutes reporter Allison Langdon.
"[Hewitt] sat me down and said, 'You're not playing Davis Cup mate tomorrow. Unless you tell me these things,'" he recalls of the night in the hotel room.
John Tomic then claimed Hewitt told his son that day, "You will never come close to me, you will never succeed in Australian sport."
He said he made complaints about the alleged bullying after the incident, but was ignored.
"If I bullied somebody 16 years old and threatened to him you locked in your room. What's happened? I will be in the jail now. We have beautiful country, strong law. Who is Lleyton Hewitt? Who is?" he told Langdon.
When asked about Hewitt's counter-claim that Tomic had threatened him, Tomic admitted he had threatened Hewitt but denied ever threatening Hewitt's family.
"I did message him, threatening, I said exactly the words I said was, 'If you come one metre from me I will knock you out.' And he knows that, 'If you ever try talk to me, come one metre from me.' I stand by that.
"I think that's one of the lowest things that I've ever heard from him. I stand by my threats towards him, but not to his family, which has nothing to do with nothing."
He went on to claim that Hewitt was merely "trying to make him look bad".
"That's so wrong. For him to say that, that's really low. To go that low and make me look that bad, that's really low," Tomic said.
His final word on Hewitt was that he has "too much power" in the sport.
"He's got too much power and it's not fair. It's not fair for Davis Cup. It's not fair for players that are not getting the chance to play Davis Cup because he's controlling the system down there."
Top Comments
Tomic is not believable. I work with people with autism and challenging behaviour. I do a lot of temp and emergency work. When I meet people I need to make quick assessments and I tend to use a 2 or 3 way grid - intelligence, strength of autism, background. I then observe and adjust as required. I've never met Tomic but I've had plenty of time to watch him via TV. That's an artificial situation in general but some things stand out. My theory on Tomic is that he isn't super bright and also had at least one abusive/controlling parent while growing up. He behaves like he is acting this out with no major self-awareness. He's had a measure of success which tends to reinforce and normalize aspects of behaviour that might otherwise result in being shunned. Perhaps he is somewhere down the ADD end of the specturm also... it would fit. Some people like that tend to go around and around in their heads on perceived slights and can't let things go.
He and Hewitt both have a history of fiery behaviour on the court but Hewitt was more about gee-ing himself up and is relatively level headed off the court. He wouldn't be in his role otherwise.
We lost an old friend's mother a few years ago. She was a life long tennis fan, glued to the TV and travelling interstate sometimes to catch games. She had no time for nonsense but she swam against the tide among her friends and family of supporting Hewitt. She saw through the "cummon" stuff and saw a real trier - something worth respecting.
Anyway, none of us were in the various places and I doubt every word Hewitt said was professional. A player-captain is half way between a friend and boss and their experience is what makes them useful in that role. Who knows? Maybe Hewitt is a monster behind the scenes. I doubt it though. I really doubt it. Most likely, as is often the case, when someone like Tomic is throwing accusations around, they're picking an easy target when there is someone else, like a parent, who they are really talking about but are too scared to actually tell.
I know this is a rambling pop psychology rant in some ways - anyone want to hear my theory on Donald Trump? Lol. I'd put a lazy tenner on Tomic being wrong about this though.
I like this comment through its ramblings.
My analysis of him is and has always been that he was never allowed a childhood. He was forced to play tennis because he was good at it and his earnings helped the family. He is still a brat because he never got the chance to be taught through good discipline, regular schooling and being rebuked by his peers that his attitude wasnt acceptable.
Ugh. BT just needs to shut up and be abetter tennis play/human. His over inflated ego is showing and I'm embarrassed for him.