Nick Kyrgios right to hate clay: Bernard Tomic
Australian slams French Open after losing in 82mins
Bernard Tomic suffered a dispiriting exit from Roland Garros yesterday and admitted his fellow Australian 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 this year.
The final set on a chilly and damp Court 14 was over in just 20 minutes and the match in 82 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 per cent yesterday.
"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 said.
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 240.
Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev survived a bruising four-hour battle to reach the second round, while dangerman Juan Martin del Potro also progressed.
German fifth seed Zverev, a quarter-finalist in Paris in 2018, battled past Australia's John Millman 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 2-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3.
Argentinian eighth seed del Potro, a semi-finalist in 2009 and 2018, made the second round with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 win over Chilean world No. 58 Nicolas Jarry.
Two-time Grand Slam winner and former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka defeated 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) in a match which featured 13 breaks of serve. - AFP
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