The image of Bernard Tomic protesting in the middle of the Australian Open qualifying match against Roman Safiullin and warning the chair umpire saying that “I am convinced that I have COVID-19” has gone viral in recent days and this Thursday Tomic’s suspicions have been confirmed, since the Australian tennis player has tested positive for Covid-19.
Tomic, who will not play the Australian Open after losing in the first round of qualifying to Safiullin 6-1, 6-4, said he still has symptoms of the disease. “I still feel sick, I’m worse mentally than physically because I really wanted to come back and show the Australian public the tennis player they expect me to be. I know it doesn’t look like it, but this is the beginning of my comeback. Because of the illness I couldn’t hit with maximum power, I had no energy,” said the Australian in statements collected by the Herald Sun.
However, Tomic’s positive can also trigger new cases, since the Australian collided his fist with Roman Safiullin’s. In fact, the Australian went so far as to bet a dinner with the chair umpire, assuring him that “in the next two days I will test positive” and assuring that “they are letting the players go to the track without doing PCR tests.”