Bernard Tomic fined entire £45,000 match fee for lack of effort in 58-minute first-round defeat by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Wimbledon
- Bernard Tomic was beaten in straight sets by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Tuesday
- The Australian has been fined his entire match fee for a lack of effort
- It is the second time in three years he has been fined at Wimbledon
Bernard Tomic has been fined his full Wimbledon prize money of £45,000 for a lack of effort in his first round defeat – which lasted just 58 minutes.
Wimbledon authorities docked him the pay after ruling he did not meet the ‘required professional standard’ in his match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
It is the second time in three years that the controversial Australian has been fined at the All England Club.
The 26-year-old was beaten in the shortest men’s match at SW19 in 15 years, just four minutes shy of Roger Federer’s 54-minute demolition of Alejandro Falla in 2004.
Bernard Tomic has been fined his full Wimbledon prize money of £45,000
The controversial Aussie has been fined for not meeting the ‘required professional standard’
In 2017 he was fined £15,000 for a straight sets defeat by Mischa Zverev, after which he admitted he faked an injury and was ‘bored’ by Wimbledon.
After Tuesday’s lacklustre showing, Tomic was quizzed repeatedly about his effort levels and repeatedly said: ‘Next question, please.’
Tomic later defended his performance this week and insisted he played poorly instead of without effort.
He said: ‘I think I played as best as I could. It’s just I played terrible.
‘I played well last week. This week, tough first round. I knew if I didn’t feel good, I’d lose this match quickly.
‘We played so fast. It’s not like we’re going to have a lot of rallies out there.’
Tomic was once seen as a rising star of tennis but has been criticised for his attitude in recent years.
In 2011, aged 18, he became the youngest man to reach a Wimbledon quarter-final since 1986.
Three years earlier, aged 15, he became the youngest junior Wimbledon men’s singles winner since 1950.
But he ran into trouble over his effort even at a junior level, and was once reported to Tennis Australia by coaches at the Junior French Open in 2007 for ‘lack of effort’ in a second round defeat.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed only 58 minutes to beat the 26-year-old in the first-round