Tennis Update: Bernard Tomic to gain Sydney International wildcard entry
In spite of Australian Bernard Tomic's controversial retraction from the Australian Open wildcard playoff, the Sydney International tournament director is expected to give Tomic a wild card for the championship. The event will
be played from January 9 to January 15 at the Sydney Olympic Park.
Tomic withdrew from the event at Melbourne Park on the basis of a cited virus that was backed up by medical evidence. The controversy, however, does not seem to have caused any hindrance as tournament director Craig Watson stated
that it was vital for Australia's top professionals to participate in championships played on home ground regardless of their current ranking.
Despite the fact that Bernard showed limitless potential as a junior player and was believed to be Australia's next big thing, the professional is yet to have made it big on the international circuit as he is currently ranked 208
in the World.
''We're waiting for some feedback from Tennis Australia in terms of the wildcards. People like Jelena Dokic and Anastasia Rodionova are right up there in terms of people we would like to be announcing. We would love to have Bernard
Tomic here. I don't know whether that's going to happen or not … but I'm sure he would be of significant interest to people who are coming out in January to watch the tennis,'' said Watson.
According to Craig, Australians need to compete at this level as this goes on in every country in the World. The tournament manager went on to add that Australian professionals do not get too many wild cards as far as tennis in
the United States is concerned. He also said that non-Europeans hardly get wild cards when tournaments are played in Europe.
Furthermore, Watson stated, ''Certainly the opportunity to see the world's best tennis athletes is very attractive to our tennis patrons, but every year there's an enormous amount of interest in the Australians playing in the field,
regardless of their ranking. They want to see Australians playing in their own events."
Additionally, Craig said that with top seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia not making an appearance it is important for the tournament to boast other high ranked Australian professionals.
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