Former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Bernand Tomic has been denied a wild card into the Australian Open, Tennis Australia said on Thursday.
Tomic, a former Australian No. 1, who was tipped to become the next big them in men’s tennis has reached a career crossroad after Craig Tiley, the tournament’s director announced the decision on the Open’s website this afternoon.
“He’s not going to get a wildcard. He’d have to go through qualifying,” said Tiley.
“Qualifying starts next week and for the men it starts on Wednesday. We play half the draw on Wednesday and the other half on Thursday.”
Instead of getting a direct entry into the year’s opening Grand Slam, Tomic will now have to go through qualifying if he is to find a place in the 128-strong men’s field that will take part in the event in Melbourne Park.
Tiley said that the decision to refuse a wild card entry to Tomic was taken in consultation with Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, who had asked the mercurial 25-year-old to compete in the Australian Open wildcard playoffs.
Hewitt and Wally Masur, Tennis Australia’s head of performance take the final decision regarding wildcard entrants.
“We’ve made the offer, Lleyton did,” Tiley added.
“We said: ‘We’d just like you to play the Australian Open wildcard playoff and, if you just make yourself available and play it, you give yourself a good chance to get in’.
“We all know Bernie can play the game. He’s had some great wins here.
“He’s one of Australia’s top players and we’d love to see him competing and playing.”
“That’s my view, but that’s going to be a decision that Bernie will take,” Tiley said.
The Happy Slam’s refusal to grant him a wildcard is a big blow for Tomic, who experienced a torrid time on the court in 2017, achieving a dismal 10 wins in the entire season. He also failed to reach the second round of three of the four Majors, losing in the opening round at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
