Tomic The Tank Engine?

...is he in meltdown?

Can he come back strong in 2013, or is he going to be another failed talent?

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/eye-off-the-ball/story-e6frg6z6-1226506978467

Interesting article.

Flat out I just don't like the guy. His conduct has been poor on and off the court. Yes he might have had some of the press in Australia purring with some of his matches in the AO, but where has he gone from there? He is what 42 in the world? He is nowhere near the top 20. His results have been poor of late.

He needs to eject his dad from the set-up and take his career more seriously. If not he could be a Donald Young in the making.

Agree, his dad is seriously holding him back now...and the title I give to this article is starting to stick with him in tennis circles...not good!

I dont like him much either, clearly he feels he deserves it all and is somebody big in the sport. Sure he has talent...but talent without control or application means nothing.

He needs a top coach...and quick! Suggestions anyone?
Roger Rasheed was mooted but he's now taken!

Firstly, I have to tip my cap to the marvellous pun in the thread title!

Good article. I too don't like Tomic at all and I'm utterly staggered to read that he has already made a fortune from endorsement deals. Why on earth are Nike so keen to have the endorsement of player who hasn't achieved anything yet? OK, he might be a decent player in the future but to give him a seven figure deal now? Astonishing.

Nike also endorsed Donald Young. I wonder if the same person negotiated those deals and are they still in their job?

I think the boat has sailed on his mind. He sounds like a bighead with an highly developed sense of entitlement.

Great thread title!!

As for coach I don't know but in a number of years I think the guy with the greatest potential to be a mentor is Federer; this is Murray and Tomic who he has instantly diagnosed as deficient in specific areas before anyone else has said a word. He seems to have a crystal clear vision.
Doubt he'll need the job though.

lol Lydian, I like the name.

bogbrush wrote:As for coach I don't know but in a number of years I think the guy with the greatest potential to be a mentor is Federer; this is Murray and Tomic who he has instantly diagnosed as deficient in specific areas before anyone else has said a word. He seems to have a crystal clear vision.
Doubt he'll need the job though.

Yes, Federer's comments on the game, be it a player's strengths and weaknesses or the history of the game and all its eras, are always astute and well-considered.

As you say though, it's reputed that there are about 150 million reasons why he may not want another job after his tennis career!

When you consider the hype and headlines that were generated when Murray hired Lendl, can you imagine what it would be like if someone hired Federer?!

Despite all that, in the same way that Lendl saw a like mind in Andy, I can imagine Roger doing it for a player in whom he saw something of himself. Whether a player similar to Roger is likely to come along though, is another matter altogether!

Agree...I think any of the guys who won 7/8+ slams would be fantastic coaches in general...but I would place Agassi and Federer as probably the best in terms of their demeanour. Sampras would probably be technically brilliant but not a good communicator or motivator. McEnroe would probably be too critical! Becker probably too full of himself...
Wilander is a very good coach by all accounts - and can imagine it - but he tours the world running expensive coaching clinics, he has no interest in the pro side.

Looks like Tomic needs to lose the Fat Controller.

Yeah I like the idea of Agassi idea Lydian, to me they could be excellent at moulding young Tomic. I don't think he will turn into much, I think he has talent but he doesn't strike me as having the sense to make the right decisions in his career. That is such and important part of being a champion. I personally do think it may have ended up stunting Tomic and Young's development in that they received so much endorsement money right off the bat. Before they had ever won a match people they were given 7 figures, for what, stinking up the joint? There is something to be said for being hungry and having the eye of the tiger in life and as competitor. How is he ever going to be a man if he isn't forced to earn his stripes, right now he is still acting like a boy.

He has been hugely disappointing after looking so interesting at W 2011.

His attitude at press conferences is staggeringly arrogant or maybe defensive. Quite agree socal that it is crazy that some of these kids have huge endorsements before they have proved themselves, that and the expectation that it generates just comes too soon maybe - perhaps Tomic himself believed the hype and is suffering a loss of confidence because he hasn't found the ability to dig deep enough on the senior tour?

I haven't seen anything from him this year that makes me anticipate his next match with any excitement!

time please wrote:He has been hugely disappointing after looking so interesting at W 2011.

His attitude at press conferences is staggeringly arrogant or maybe defensive. Quite agree socal that it is crazy that some of these kids have huge endorsements before they have proved themselves, that and the expectation that it generates just comes too soon maybe - perhaps Tomic himself believed the hype and is suffering a loss of confidence because he hasn't found the ability to dig deep enough on the senior tour?

I haven't seen anything from him this year that makes me anticipate his next match with any excitement!

Oh I don't know, it's become car-crash TV, where you rubberneck as you pass by simply to see how bad it is.

That's true

Yes there is that guilty pleasure sometimes of seeing an arrogant brat upstart get taught a few lessons, even if self-imposed. I bet he's not too popular around the locker rooms either.

Leyton would be a good coach, he would be no nonsense and he is also a great tactician, which Tomic needs to work on.

TopoftheChops wrote:Leyton would be a good coach, he would be no nonsense and he is also a great tactician, which Tomic needs to work on.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/tennis/team-hewitt-fuming-at-wimbledon-snub/2009/09/16/1252780357083.html

I think Hewitt would beat the snot out of him rather than coach him.

2009 - and he was 16!!!!

Either terrible misunderstanding all round or a case of an over confident youngster just not being managed properly when he gets too big for his boots by parent/coach. I think to be a big star you need a certain 'arrogance', but it is channeling it correctly that is the key.

If Tomic really thought that Hewitt couldn't teach him anything pre the match, then it really does explain why he is floundering atm.

His dad apparently 'bent his ear' when Hewitt offered.

Also I understand that the DC is a rather frosty affair

Not really surprising!

Tomic is not, and never likely to be, fit to lick Lleyton's boots - the latter could teach the former about guts if nothing else!!!

Yep, love or hate Hewitt you cant deny his passion and application for this game. I suspect Hewitt already knows what Tomic is like, and being the type of guy Lleyton inherently is would avoid him like the plague. Tomic is going to find himself frozen out of Australian and other circles if he's not careful...the pro tennis tour is a tough enough grind as it is, you dont want unpopularity on top of that. After all Rios and Coria (probably better player than Tomic will ever be) didnt last too long into their careers...both were pretty washed up by 25/26....IMO partly driven by the mental baggage of unpopularity even though they might have said they werent bothered. Anyone who says they dont care what the public or players think of them is lying...and Tomic is also probably in denial. He needs to grow up, and fast!

For all that it didn't last very long, I always thought that Brad Gilbert's time with Murray was crucial in moving Andy on from very promising youngster to challenger in the big tournaments.

I see quite a number of similarities between Murray then and Tomic now (with regard to their game rather than their attitude), so perhaps Gilbert could be a good option to break the Tomic family apron strings and start to develop Bernie into the player he could become. Doesn't necessarily have to be a long-term appointment, but enough for Tomic to get his head straight about what is required to become a top player.

Good article.