Bernard Tomic has denied not giving it his all despite lasting just 82 minutes against Taylor Fritz in another forgettable French Open for the Australian. The big-serving American made the most of a disinterested Tomic to run away with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 first round victory, the 21-year-old’s most dominant in a grand slam.
World No 84 Tomic raced through his service games at almost comical speed as his main draw record on the French clay worsened to 3-10. He managed to combine nonchalance and impatience in a first set that lasted just 23 minutes.
The 26-year-old barely looked up between serves and even tried to concede a winner against his serve on match point, despite his bemused opponent and the chair umpire telling him his delivery had been a fault.
Tomic then shrugged his way through another abrupt post-match press conference, although stopped short of saying he had not given his all. He did agree with compatriot Nick Kyrgios’s social media post last week that the French Open “sucked”, compared to Wimbledon, but said it was just a fact that his game wasn’t suited to the slower surface.
“[I’m] pretty sure I did [try], but, you know, surface is not good for me,” he said. “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.”
His performance – both on and off the court – mirrored last year’s first round exit, although on that occasion he had won seven straight matches on clay to qualify for the main draw.
Slight rain was all that could slow Tomic’s self-driven demise in the first set, while he could only laugh when a trainer was called for him inadvertently early in the second. Turning away the help, Tomic returned to court with a wry grin, praying towards the sky saying “I love Roland Garros, I love it”.
The comic relief seemed to spring Tomic into action, albeit briefly as he found himself back on serve, breaking for 4-4 in the second set. Fritz dug in though, earning the break after winning back-to-back 22-shot rallies against the Queenslander.
Normal service resumed though as Tomic watched an ace sail by as the American, ranked 42 places higher, secured the set and an early break in the third to all but kill off the first glimmers of a contest.
Fritz admitted he didn’t quite know what to think of his first main draw win at Roland Garros.
“It was kind of weird; in the first set he hit some good shots but did not move, like, a lot,” he said. “So I felt like if I kind of just worked the point, then I would win. And then the second set … I thought he started playing very well and for a couple games there we were in, like, a battle. You have to stay focused and kind of like be ready for whatever.”
The grass season awaits the former world No 17 Tomic, who is slated for qualifying at Queens next month, but with another shrug of his shoulders Tomic said the only concrete plan he currently had was to return to his Paris hotel.