Tomic in hot water after spa fight

Updated October 30, 2012 15:27:09

Former Australian Davis Cup coach Roger Rasheed says Bernard Tomic needs to step away from tennis to settle his off-court issues following another run-in with police on the Gold Coast.

Tomic was reportedly involved in an altercation with a friend during his 20th birthday celebrations with police called to a disturbance at a spa in a Surfers Paradise apartment tower in the early hours of Monday morning.

Queensland Police said no arrests were made or charges laid.

"We spoke to a couple of males and that was it," a police spokesman said.

According to the Gold Coast Bulletin, police "separated the two men before the tennis ace turned on officers".

"He reminded police of 'who he was' and accused officers of running a hate campaign against him," the newspaper said, citing police sources.

The incident comes just a week before Tomic is set to face court to challenge traffic charges stemming from an Australia Day incident where he is alleged to have driven his high-powered V8 BMW M3 in breach of special licence conditions.

Tomic is also accused of failing to stop for police and not keeping to the left of double dividing lines on the road.

The talented Australian has endured a tough year on the court as well, his world ranking sliding from 28 to 49 and having to deny accusations of tanking during his US Open loss to Andy Roddick in September.

Rasheed, who used to coach Lleyton Hewitt and is currently mentoring France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, said Tomic needs to get his life in order and should stay away from tennis until that happens.

"I think there's a lot of work to do off the court," Rasheed told Sky Sports Radio on Tuesday.

"I wouldn't hit another ball if I was Bernard Tomic. I would just sort everything out, see where I'm at. (Even) if it took him three months now, six months or whatever it took him.

"You need to sort out the basics and the platform otherwise it'll raise it's ugly head again. It's unfortunate."

Rasheed also believes Tomic's entourage has a lot to answer for and while his father John has done an admirable job to get his son into the world top 50, it is time for the pair to re-think their relationship.

He says appointing a widely regarded coach as well as sorting out what motivates Tomic to play tennis will be a key to revitalising the youngster's career.

"To be honest, I think he's rebelling against the whole system," Rasheed said.

"He's talented but he's not Lleyton, he's not Rafa (Nadal) and he's not Novak (Djokovic), he's not those guys. You see what those guys were doing at the same age, they were in a different ball game, a different class.

"I'm not sure if he's got the people in front of him to be able to position him in the right place right now. Which is unfortunate.

"His father's aware of it but he needs a coach, there's no doubt about it. His father's done a great job to get him to position A but position A is not where it's at now for him.

"If he wants to keep excelling he gets a legitimate coach and decides what he wants out of the game."

AAP/AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, surfers-paradise-4217, qld, australia

First posted October 30, 2012 11:48:18

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Hewitt to face Roddick after Open fight

Updated January 18, 2012 13:09:29

Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt has set up a second round showdown with long-time rival Andy Roddick after starting his record 16th consecutive Australian Open with a typically gutsy win.

Hewitt downed unseeded German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in a see-sawing struggle which took two minutes shy of four hours in front of a record 19,031-strong Rod Laver Arena crowd on Tuesday night.

After 30-year-old father-of-three Hewitt won the first two sets, Stebe dominated the third and the early stages of the fourth, going up two breaks of serve, to seemingly be set to push the match to a decider.

Hewitt seemed in grave danger of his third first-round exit in four years in his home grand slam.

But he showed he had lost none of the fighting spirit which has been the two-time grand slam winner's trademark, consistently applying pressure until the German's sweet hitting went off the boil, allowing the Australian to storm home.

Hewitt's triumph was delayed by Stebe calling for an injury time-out with one game left in the match, in what seemed a desperate, but unsuccessful, bid to halt the veteran's new-found momentum.

The 21-year-old German left-hander produced a succession of fine shots from both sides throughout a high-quality match, before finally faltering late in the contest.

Hewitt said he had just "hung in there" in the fourth set, before his opponent tightened up.

He appreciated the crowd support, but said most of the spectators were probably settling in for a five-setter.

"Every time I seem to play out here, I seem to play five sets," Hewitt said.

"They were just getting ready for another long night."

Roddick, the 15th seed, beat Dutchman Robin Haase 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 earlier on Tuesday, but was bracing for an epic battle with Hewitt, despite the discrepancy in their rankings.

"He's a fighter. I have as much respect for him as I do for anybody in the game," Roddick said.

Meanwhile, French sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in four sets to reach the second round.

Former finalist Tsonga downed Istomin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 and will next play Brazilian Ricardo Mello.

Serbian Victor Troicki, seeded 19th, came back from two sets down to defeat Juan Carlos Ferrero 4-6, 6-7(3-7), 6-2, 7-6(7-3), 6-2.

AAP

Tags: sport, tennis, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

First posted January 17, 2012 23:44:01

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Hewitt forced to fight at Hopman Cup

Updated January 06, 2012 08:48:01

It was meant to be a waltz in the park, but Lleyton Hewitt was forced to do it tough in a 6-4, 7-5 triumph over China's world number 421 Wu Di at the Hopman Cup in Perth.

Hewitt, playing his first tournament since re-injuring his foot in September, found himself down 4-2 in the second set against Wu as the little-known right-hander threatened to send the match to a third set.

But Hewitt broke straight back to regain control of the contest, eventually sealing the win in 93 minutes to level the tie at 1-1 after French Open champion Li Na defeated Jarmila Gajdosova 6-3, 6-2 earlier in the night.

Australia sealed the tie 2-1 with an 8-5 win in the mixed doubles, which was decided by a pro-set.

Hewitt, whose next assignment is next week's Sydney International, said his troublesome left big toe had held up well despite still causing him some pain.

"The movement's still taking a bit of time to get back and I'm busting my butt at the moment ... to get that movement so it becomes second nature," Hewitt said.

"I've made progress. It's been a good week. I needed these three tough matches."

A fit-again Hewitt looked the goods in pushing world number 19 Richard Gasquet and world number 24 Fernando Verdasco to three sets earlier in the tournament.

Although the former world number one failed to win either of those matches, he was expected to swiftly dispatch Wu, whose past three tournaments resulted in first-round exits.

But the 20-year-old failed to read the script as he unleashed some glamorous ground strokes to put the heat on Hewitt.

However, a fighting break of serve from Hewitt in the 11th game of the second set broke the back of Wu, putting Australia back into the tie.

Gajdosova was reduced to tears on Tuesday when she suffered an embarrassing 6-0, 6-0 defeat to France's Marion Bartoli.

The world number 33 showed a bit more fight and spirit against Li, but it proved futile as the Chinese world number five cruised to the win in 78 minutes.

Li, who won all three of her singles matches in Perth, felt she was well prepared for the Sydney International and the Australian Open.

And despite losing the Australian Open final to Kim Clijsters last year, Li said the experience proved vital in her breakthrough French Open success.

"I think the final gave me a lot of experience," Li said.

"After I came to the final I had more confidence.

"I had the belief I could win a grand slam final."

France secured a spot in Saturday's final with a 2-0 win over Spain.

Marion Bartoli defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-4 in the women's singles before Richard Gasquet sealed the deal in a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Fernando Verdasco in the men's.

The dead rubber mixed doubles was not played.

The top-seeded Czech Republic can secure a spot in the decider with a win over Denmark on Friday.

AAP

Tags: sport, tennis, perth-6000, china

First posted January 06, 2012 01:39:04

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