After letting his emotions and frustrations fly following an early exit from Wimbledon, Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic has been dropped by racket sponsor Head.
A statement on Head’s official website read: “We were extremely disappointed with the statements made at Wimbledon by one of our sponsored athletes, Bernard Tomic.
“His opinions in no way reflect our own attitude for tennis, our passion, professionalism and respect for the game. Therefore, we have decided to discontinue our collaboration with Bernard Tomic.”
Tomic raised hell during a first round matchup against Mischa Zverev. In the middle of the match, Tomic had called timeout to talk to his trainer, which Tomic admitted was intended to be a way to disrupt the momentum established by Zverev. That’s a no-no in the sportsmanship department, which led to a $15,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct from the International Tennis Federation. The fine issued by the ITF was the second-largest fine issued by the organization since 1991.
It was during the same postgame interview that Tomic swung back-and-forth in his chair and described how he simply got bored during the match, which rubbed some tennis fans the wrong way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d5Sw3yzHn0
Another Head spokesperson, Novak Djokovic, defended the decision made by Head following the decision to yank Tomic.
“We all, in the heat of the moment, maybe say some things that are not appropriate maybe, by definition of someone, or something,” Djokovic said. “But again, it’s understandable, in a way, why Head has reacted in this way. Because it’s not the right message to send out there from one of the most talented players that has played a game in last, you know, six, seven years.”
If Tomic keeps racking up fines and losing sponsors, he may be well-suited to rediscover the fun of playing tennis again pretty soon.
[ESPN]
