Bernard Tomic was beaten by Russia's Roman Safiullin in their Australian Open qualifying match
Bernard Tomic was crushed by of their Australian Open qualifying match (Image: Getty)

Bernard Tomic was concerned in a weird altercation with an umpire throughout his defeat in opposition to Roman Safiullin as his makes an attempt to qualify for the Australian Open have been dashed amid issues he was taking part in whereas constructive for coronavirus.

The previous world No.17 was defeated in straight units along with his Russian opponent requiring lower than an hour to safe a simple 6-1 6-4 victory.

An understandably rusty Tomic hadn’t performed in an ATP event since September, when he retired within the first spherical of a qualifier occasion in Kazakhstan, and seemed nicely off the tempo within the searing Melbourne warmth.

The 29-year-old had his pulse taken by the coach on court docket in the course of the first set which he misplaced in simply 23 minutes.

Later, trailing 1-2 within the second set, Tomic advised chair umpire Aline Da Rocha Nocinto on the change-over he thought he had the virus and complained concerning the testing procedures in place.

‘I’ll purchase you dinner if I don’t take a look at constructive in three days, in any other case you purchase me dinner,’ he was overheard saying in a weird change with the umpire.

Bernard Tomic had his pulse taken on court and is convinced he has contracted coronavirus
Bernard Tomic had his pulse taken on court docket and is satisfied he has contracted coronavirus (Image: Getty)

‘They’re permitting gamers to come back on court docket with speedy assessments of their room, c’mon … no official PCR testing.’

Updating his followers on social media afterwards, Tomic added: ‘Feeling actually sick, I’m now again in my resort room.

‘Simply spoke to the medical doctors on web site they usually’ve requested me to isolate. They couldn’t deal with me but to keep away from contact.

‘Thanks for all of the help on the court docket right now. I actually admire it! I’ll do higher subsequent time. Very disenchanted as I actually needed to make Aussies proud and carry out nicely on my dwelling turf.’

The build-up to the primary grand slam of the yr, in the meantime, has been dominated by the Novak Djokovic saga with the Serb’s participation nonetheless in a measure of doubt.

Djokovic’s visa may nonetheless be cancelled a second time by Australian immigration minister Alex Hawke with questions rising over a declaration type the participant filed to journey to Australia.

On the shape, filed on January 1, Djokovic answered ‘no’ to the query: ‘Have you ever travelled, or will you journey, within the 14 days previous to your flight to Australia?’.

Djokovic flew to Melbourne from Spain on January 4, however had appeared in photographs posted to social media by journalist Jose Morgado from Belgrade on Christmas Day.

The doc was launched by the Federal Circuit Courtroom of Australia on Monday. In an affidavit Djokovic submitted to the court docket, he mentioned he ‘authorised’ his agent to submit the journey declaration type.

In the meantime, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has spoken along with his Serbian counterpart about Djokovic’s state of affairs and defined Australia’s ‘non-discriminatory border coverage’.

‘The PM had a constructive name with PM Brnabic this morning on Novak Djokovic,’ a press release from the Australian Prime Minister’s Workplace mentioned. The PM defined our non-discriminatory border coverage and its function in defending Australia in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.’

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