SYDNEY (AP) — Bernard Tomic has ruled himself out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics for Australia, saying in a statement on Friday that a busy playing schedule and personal circumstances were the reasons.
Tomic’s selection was under considerable doubt anyway after he turned his racket around the wrong way on match point at a tournament in Madrid, and said later in an interview that he didn’t care because he was 23 and worth $10 million.
That led Australian Olympic Committee chef de mission Kitty Chiller to describe Tomic’s behavior as “appalling.”
Tomic says “on the basis of an extremely busy playing schedule and my own personal circumstances, I am regrettably unable to commit.”
He is currently Australia’s highest-ranked men’s player at No. 24, followed by Nick Kyrgios at 28.