FILE – Bernard Tomic of Australia looks on against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day five of the Miami Open Tennis on March 22, 2019 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Julian Finney/Getty Images/AFP
Bernard Tomic suffered a dispiriting exit from Roland Garros on Tuesday and admitted Australian compatriot Nick Kyrgios was right to say the tournament “sucks.”
Tomic slumped to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 defeat by Taylor Fritz of the United States, leaving him with just three wins in 2019.
The final set on a chilly and damp Court 14 was over in just 20 minutes and the match in 88 minutes, the quickest of the tournament so far.
Fellow firebrand Kyrgios withdrew from Roland Garros with an elbow injury last week but not before saying: “Get rid of the clay, man. Who likes the clay, it is so bad.
“The French Open sucks compared to this place. Sucks. Absolute sucks.”
Tomic, never far from controversy, was happy to concur.
“I agree with him, with everything,” he said during a monosyllabic press conference.
“The tournament is not for me.”
Tomic’s lack of enthusiasm for the task in hand was encapsulated on match point where a serve he thought was out led him to the net to offer his hand.
“I thought the match was over, it would be nice to give him the point because that’s how I felt. But it’s okay. We replayed it.”
Accused in the past of not trying in matches and once dubbed by the Australian media as ‘Tomic the tank engine’, he insisted he was at 100 percent on Tuesday.
“Pretty sure I did (gave his best). But, you know, the surface is not good for me.”
“I mean, it’s not difficult. It’s just my game is not built for this surface. Everything I do is not good for it.
“But as long as I’m doing the right thing now, for the next month, is important for me. That’s my focus.”
That focus, however, does not include where his next tournament will be as Wimbledon fast approaches.
“Honestly I have no clue. I’ll go to the hotel and see. I have no idea where I’m playing,” he added.
The fiery Australian, who shot to fame by making the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2011 and went on to reach the world top 20, arrived in Paris deep in another slump.
Ranked 84 in the world, he retired with illness at Lyon last week against Canada’s Steven Diez, ranked a lowly 262.
His most recent Grand Slam appearance in Australia in January was overshadowed by a feud with Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt.
The head of Tennis Australia Craig Tiley described Tomic as “bad for the culture of Australian tennis”.
Tomic is not hoping for a thaw in the cold war anytime soon.
“I haven’t even thought about it since January, so no.”
For Fritz, it was a first career win at Roland Garros and backed up a solid season on European clay.
The 21-year-old American, ranked 42, was a semi-finalist in Lyon last week, losing to eventual champion Benoit Paire.
He also qualified for the Madrid and Rome Masters before falling to Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori respectively.
The city is also special for the American — back in 2016, he proposed to his girlfriend Raquel Pedraza in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
The two are now married with a son, Jordan.