Of course Tomic was never going to win the Australian Open — but there is always a chance he could have survived to the second week of the tournament. What would have happened then when his worlds collided?
He would have been forced to withdraw or execute another trademark tank, juggling his tennis preparation and his reality TV commitments.
How comfortable he is about the dark stain it would have left on the Open is staggering.
That he would prioritise a reality TV junket over his home grand slam shows us all we need to know about the former talent.
Tomic sensationally claimed earlier this summer some fans may have turned away from him because he is too honest about his lack of committment.
He hasn't been honest once about his Australian Open qualifying sham.
He failed to even show up for Tennis Australia's wildcard play-off in December. According to reports all he needed to earn a discretionary wildcard from Tennis Australia was to show up.
In January, Tomic showed up early for the Australian Open needing to qualify to earn his place in the main draw of the men's singles because his ranking of No. 143 in the world is nowhere near the mark needed to guarantee his place in the field of 128 players.
He needed to win three matches in qualifying to make the field. He cruised past his first two opponents and spoke about how serious he was about making his fans proud at the Australian Open.
He even brought up his famous run to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2011 after needing to make it through qualifying — suggesting he was capable of making a similar run at the 2018 Aussie Open.
It was all lies.
"Sometimes I probably look a bit lazy and stuff, but that's me," Tomic said at the Kooyong Classic one day before the start of qualifying.
"I don't really go about it 100 per cent.
"I think this year has to be a good year for me. I know a couple of years back I was (ranked) 130 in the world, and was also top 20 for two years after that.
"I need to get back playing consistently... for me that's the main priority."
These comments were made well after he'd already committed to filming I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
When he lost to Italian Lorenzo Sonego in the third round of qualifying, Tomic delivered his unforgettable comment to a media scrum trying to interview him as he walked back to the players lounge from his outside court.
"I just count money, that's all I do, I count my millions," he said.
"You go make $13 or $14 million. Good luck, bye."
There are too many professional tennis players who actually back-up their words with action for Bernard Tomic to rob them of a spot in future grand slams.
Even in promotional interviews for the Channel 10 show conducted before the end of the Australian Open, Tomic was still lying to himself about his career, saying he still intends to mend his broken relationship with Tennis Australia and return to playing Davis Cup for Australia.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph in South Africa, Tomic then threatened to reveal what he suggested to be cases of corruption inside Tennis Australia.
Then he went back to talking about his grand tennis plans for this year.
"The Davis Cup is huge for me," Tomic said.
"Everyone knows down there that they are going to need me to win Davis Cup."
Tomic's immediate tournament schedule is unclear, having headed to the jungle for filming of the Ten Network show.
But he was adamant his playing career future remained bright.
"It is not a big problem for me, I have got to just stay healthy and play a lot of matches the next six to 12 months and get my ranking back to where I should be," he said.
"Maybe top five in the world is my goal.
"Being No. 1 and winning 15 grand slams is a bit not realistic right now, and becoming Roger Federer.
"I feel that if I do the right things over the next five or 10 years I could probably win some majors and that is something I am going to push forward to."
He may actually believe it, but his actions speak much louder than his words — and his actions this summer have left yet another stain on the once-proud, admirable reputation of Australian tennis.
— with AAP
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