Skip to main content

Bernard Tomic retires from first-round match at French Open

  • Author:
  • Publish date:
Bernard Tomic took a medical timeout in the first set, then retired in the third.

Bernard Tomic took a medical timeout in the first set, then retired in the third.

Australian player Bernard Tomic, whose father was banned from attending the French Open because of an assault investigation, retired from his first-round match at Roland Garros in the third set Tuesday.

The 61st-ranked Tomic was treated for a right hamstring problem in the first set but played on until stopping while trailing 7-5, 7-6 (8), 2-1 against Victor Hanescu of Romania.

Tomic's father, John, is due in court in Madrid in October. He is accused of head-butting Bernard's former hitting partner, Thomas Drouet.

The ATP and International Tennis Federation barred John Tomic from receiving credentials for tournaments. The French tennis federation announced Monday they had told the ATP, Bernard Tomic and his agent that the father would not be allowed onto the grounds of the clay-court Grand Slam tournament, even as a paying spectator.

John Tomic had not been seen at the Roland Garros complex and the father's name did not come up when tournament salespeople checked tickets this morning, French federation spokesman Christophe Proust said Tuesday.

After only three games against Hanescu, Bernard Tomic called for a trainer to work on his right leg while he was leading 2-1. The trainer massaged Tomic's right hamstring. He continued to play but was limping.

At 20, Bernard Tomic is seen as Australia's most promising player. He reached Wimbledon's quarterfinals in 2011 at age 18 - the youngest man to make it that far at the All England Club since Boris Becker in the 1980s - but his young career has been marked by off-court issues.

In November, he was fined and put on a 12-month good-behavior bond after twice being stopped by Australian police for driving offenses near his Gold Coast home.