Aussie tennis bad boy Bernard Tomic is in hot water again after he was kicked out of a tournament after allegedly taunting a bitter rival from the stands.
The former world number 17 was attending the ATP Challenger final in the Dominican Republic, cheering on his good mate Damir Dzumhur against Ecuador’s Andres Andrade.
The Ecuadorian claimed a straight sets quarter final victory against Tomic last week, with the Aussie reportedly refused to shake his opponent’s hand at the net after the match ended.
Tomic attended Sunday night’s final undercover and reportedly switched seats to heckle and distract Andrade around the court.
Footage emerged of tournament officials ordering Tomic to leave the arena early in the second set, with scores locked at 1-1 after Dzumhur won the first set.
Wearing sunglasses and a hat, Tomic unsuccessfully tried to plead his case while seated in the front row.
The stunned crowd watched on and were heard cheering as Tomic was evicted from the venue surrounded by security.
Earlier on in the match, Tomic also reportedly got involved when Andrade argued with the umpire and a match supervisor.
Bernard Tomic (pictured with his girlfriend Keeley) is back in the headlines after
The controversy overshadowed Dzumhur’s tournament win that saw him defeat Andrade in straight sets.
Tomic’s bizarre actions sent tennis experts and fans into meltdown.
‘I have no words,’ commentator Jose Morgado tweeted.
A fan added: ‘This is crazy. Tomic lost to Andrade in QF and got a bit saucy. Andrade went all the way to the final and Bernard Tomic went undercover in the crowd to mock and cheer against him.’
Some fans called for Tomic to be sanctioned.
‘What is an appropriate penalty for this? Surely its beyond mandatory counselling at this stage in his career,’ one wrote.
The crowd erupted as Tomic (wearing a hat and blue shirt) was evicted from the ATP Challenger final in the Dominican Republic
The Aussie tennis bad boy is currently ranked 247 in the world
Tomic has been battling on the Challengers circuit for years to resurrect his flagging tennis career.
Once ranked 17th in the world, Tomic hasn’t been inside the top-100 rankings since August 2019 and fell as low as number 825 in the world in 2022.
The 31-year-old has been grinding his way back up the rankings and currently sits at 247 in the world.
In June, he retired mid-match from an ATP Challengers event after getting into a bizarre spat with his girlfriend Keely Hannah while on the court.
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