The father of tennis star Bernard Tomic has said his family is considering taking legal action against Tennis Australia following an email sent on Monday that stated the country’s top-ranked men’s player was to feature in the “Hall of Shame Tennis Championships”.
John Tomic issued a statement through Fairfax Media which made clear his frustration at the latest instalment of the very public disintegration of the Tomic family’s relationship with the governing body.
“The Tomic family is very disappointed by TA’s continual shaming and misrepresentation of Bernard,” John Tomic’s statement read. “Bernard has already been punished by his non-selection for the upcoming Davis Cup tie.
“Bernard accepted his sanction in a professional manner and was willing to move on ... how typically childish and arrogant of TA to permit publication of such material and then expect to get away with it. We have no alternative but to refer the matter to our legal people for advice.”
Tennis Australia was on Monday forced into issuing an apology for the typo in the email which should have said Tomic would be playing in the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, taking place this week in the US city of Newport. A TA statement blamed the faux pas on a “simple clerical error”.
Tomic is only playing at the tournament in Rhode Island after being dumped from the Australian Davis Cup team for his 10-minute tirade against TA officials following his exit from Wimbledon a week and a-half ago. He lost his first-round encounter against fellow Australian John-Patrick Smith in straight sets 6-3, 7-5.
Without Tomic, Australia’s Davis Cup team play Kazakhstan in a World Group quarter-final this weekend.
