Arguably one of the most daunting jobs in world tennis is up for grabs – working alongside John Tomic.
Bernard Tomic revealed after his French Open first round exit he’s looking to appoint, effectively, an assistant coach to help fill the void as his father is currently banned from attending matches.
And, despite John Tomic facing an assault charge and having a reputation for being fiery, demanding and difficult at times, the Australian tennis star insists he’s not short on candidates.
After declaring his love and support for his father and insisting he would always be his coach, Tomic was asked if he was concerned potential coaching additions would be reluctant to work with John.
“No, I’ve thought about it,” he replied.
“I probably have a choice of two or three people now.
“I will decide that with my dad over the next week, and who knows?
“Maybe you’ll see someone you don’t expect.”
Australian Davis Cup coach Josh Eagle was in Tomic’s box offering support at Roland Garros on Tuesday before the 20-year-old retired hurt with a leg injury against Romanian Victor Hanescu while trailing by two sets to love.
But Eagle – and Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter for that matter – have their hands full with national team duties and aren’t contenders for the new role.
Eagle said he and Tennis Australia would continue in a “supportive but not overbearing” role if Tomic needed it.
But, after sitting through Tomic’s match, he felt the world No.61 definitely needed somebody who could support him at games.
“There’s a lot for him to have to handle and there’s a lot of press people interested in the story world-wide,” Eagle told AAP.
“He’s certainly seems to be handling it okay but it can’t be easy to walk out there and play grand slam tennis with that sort of pressure on his shoulders.”
It was Tomic’s first match since his father was charged with assaulting Bernard’s training partner, Frenchman Thomas Drouet, in Madrid on May 4.
Having been suspended by the ATP Tour and banned by officials from attending the claycourt grand slam, as either a coach or a paying spectator, John Tomic remained in his Paris hotel during Tuesday’s match.
World No.61 Tomic, who called it quits with Hanescu up 7-5 7-6 (10-8) 2-1, admitted it felt different not having his dad there.
“I might put someone else on board that can help my dad and them two people, you know, negotiate,” Tomic said.
“Not sort of a coach, but someone just to help me a little bit.
“It might be a few weeks away, maybe after the grass (season). But I’ll see. I’d like to get someone in before the grass that can help me and my dad.”
John Tomic denies assaulting Drouet, saying he was acting in self defence, and the case will be heard at a Madrid court in October.
Bernard did not want to comment on the incident while there was no mention of claims made by Drouet that he’d also seen John hit his son.
Of more concern to Tomic was his injury, though he said it would not threaten his build-up to Wimbledon next month.
Tomic felt a tear in his right leg during the second point of the match.
He clutched at his hamstring regularly early on and looked to be wincing in pain at times.
While he’s faced queries of his attitude in the past, there was no mistaking his commitment as he fought hard against Hanescu, before eventually succumbing to the problem.
“It’s not eight weeks, it’s not six weeks, probably just a week or two,” Tomic said of the injury.
Tomic is scheduled to commence his Wimbledon build-up at Queen’s in London in a fortnight.