Bernard Tomic winks at bemused 60 minutes reporter Allison Langdon. Photo / Supplied
Bernard Tomic winks at bemused 60 minutes reporter Allison Langdon. Photo / Supplied
It's the post-grand slam tradition no one particular wants but we seemingly can't avoid — Bernard Tomic following another controversy-filled success-barren tournament with a sit-down interview on a major TV network.
It began in mid-2017 when Tomic followed a pathetic Wimbledon performance by telling Channel 7's Sunday Night programme inAustralia he had built his career on "50 per cent" effort.
"Wouldn't anyone want to take a job in a professional sport in one of the biggest sports in the world and only give 50, 60 per cent and earn millions of dollars?" he said last July. "I think everybody would take that."
Twelve months ago, after he failed to qualify for the Australian Open and took his expert quitting game to Channel 10 reality TV show I'm A Celeb, a slightly more humble Tomic told The Project he kind of regretted getting into tennis in the first place.
"I don't love tennis but I like it a lot and it's something that I need to do and I need to do as best as I can," Tomic told Carrie Bickmore.
This year it's new Australia's tennis TV rights holder Channel 9's turn.
After Tomic dropped a bomb on Australian tennis with a series of explosive accusations at Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt at the Australian Open, he's going to be on 60 Minutes.
Bernard Tomic. Photo / Photosport
The network has begun promoting an interview conducted by Weekend Today host Allison Langdon that will screen on Sunday night.
Perhaps conscious of not falling in the trap of being overly-sympathetic to the tennis brat, Langdon hits Tomic — who is sitting next to his controversial father John — right between the eyes.
"The problem you have is that people don't like you," Langdon says. "You're seen as lazy, selfish, a brat."
It may be clever editing and come from a different part of the interview, but Nine's preview makes it seem like Tomic responds by winking at his interviewer.
And her reaction is priceless.
It comes after Tomic and his father launched attacks on Hewitt following the 26-year-old's first round defeat to Marin Cilic at Melbourne Park.
Tomic claimed no Australian players liked Hewitt, while his father told the Sydney Morning Herald that Hewitt left his son traumatised when he was 17 following an incident in 2010 when he tried to pressure him into revealing who in Tennis Australia was "against" him.
Hewitt added fuel to the fire by alleging Tomic threatened his family and has attempted to blackmail him since their relationship breakdown in 2017.
Hewitt is now in Adelaide with the Davis Cup team preparing for a tie against Bosnia and Herzegovina being played this weekend.
He refused to answer questions about Tomic — who has been black-listed from selection — at a pre-tie press conference. "I'm not going to waste my time on that now," Hewitt said.
Whether Tomic gains his attention on Sunday night remains to be seen.
