Bernard Tomic took offence to suggestions his impressive run to the fourth round at Wimbledon proved he didn’t need his banned father and coach by his side.
The 20-year-old outfoxed ninth-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-6 (9-7) 5-7 7-5 7-6 (7-5) on Centre Court on Saturday to reach the last 16 for the second time.
He was the only Australian to reach the second week of singles at the grass-court grand slam after 14th seed Samantha Stosur lost 4-6 6-2 6-1 to 23rd-seeded German Sabine Lisicki.
Tomic’s impressive performance set up a last-16 showdown with seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych on Monday, with the winner likely to meet top seed Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
World No.59 Tomic is competing at Wimbledon without the court-side support of John Tomic, who had his ATP credentials suspended after being charged with assaulting Bernard’s former training partner Thomas Drouet during the Madrid Masters.
John Tomic has also been banned from attending Wimbledon as a spectator and, although Bernard is now comfortable with the situation, he didn’t take kindly to questions suggesting he’d be better off without his dad.
“It’s just something that shouldn’t be asked, I think,” Tomic said in another post-match conference dominated by talk of his father.
“You don’t say that … `because your father’s not here, you’re doing very well, do you need him, don’t you need him’.
“That’s not an appropriate question to ask because he’s my dad.
“You know, it’s family. I’m going to stick by that.”
John Tomic is staying at a rented house near Wimbledon village and remains an influential part of his son’s campaign.
“When I leave the site, I’m with my dad. He’s helping me at this tournament,” Tomic said.
“I’m not doing it on my own. My dad is still involved. That’s why I’ve gotten to where I am in this tournament and the results have shown.”
Tomic jokingly suggested his father may have even been in the crowd,
“You don’t know with my dad. You just don’t know,” he said with a smile.
Tomic appeared to relish a big atmosphere, with the match scheduled first up on Centre Court.
And some 15,000 supporters were treated to an entertaining match as Tomic was forced to call on his full range of skills against the crafty Frenchman.
In stark contrast to his opening encounters against big-hitting Americans Sam Querrey and James Blake, it was more an exercise in tactics and touch and Tomic showed great composure and focus at key moments.
“It’s a huge win for me,” Tomic said.
“I played very well today and I needed to against Richard.”
There was a light-hearted moment in a court-side post-match interview when Tomic was asked about his victory following the Wallabies’ triumph over the British Lions in rugby union.
“I didn’t know that. I’m sorry they lost. I support the Lions,” the Queenslander replied, thinking the interviewer was referring to the AFL’s Brisbane Lions.
In the match following on Centre Court, Stosur blew a one-set lead and a chance to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon for the first time.
Still, she was encouraged by matching her best performance at the grand slam on her least-favoured surface.
“I would have loved an opportunity to play in the fourth round but at least today again I have to be happy with the way I played overall,” Stosur said.
