Barty and de Minaur put Tomic to shame after 'pathetic' act
At the same time as Bernard Tomic was serving between his legs on match point against Nick Kyrgios, Alex de Minaur was battling back from 1-4 in a tiebreaker to win.
And not long after, Ash Barty was dispatching the World No.1 in straight sets.
Tennis fans saw the irony on Wednesday that Barty and de Minaur claimed hard-fought victories straight after Tomic’s ‘pathetic’ act against Nick Kyrgios.
The tennis world erupted at about 2pm when Tomic capped off a lacklustre match against Kyrgios with the ridiculous tweener serve.
Serving for the match, Tomic caught Kyrgios off guard by hitting an underarm serve between his legs that bounced in his rival’s service square.
There was a stunned silence from Kyrgios before Tomic was declared the winner – much to the astonishment of the crowd.
And fans didn’t really see the funny side.
Genuinely taking the you-know-what!
It should have been a let as soon as Tomic bounced the second ball, but it;s up to Nick to call it. Looks like Nick didn't care and just gave up.
— Sam Daddo (@sammydaddo) January 9, 2019
Absolute joke of a finish for a joke of a match. Tomic and Kyrgios planned that so well, kept it close but short also short
— Nathan Schulz (@RGSchulzy16) January 9, 2019
Can we send Tomic back to the jungle ?! Pathetic #KooyongClassic
— Mischief Managed (@Ess_N_Emm) January 9, 2019
Someone in the crowd at Tomic v Kyrgios literally yelled out “I paid money for this” just before the match ended.
An exhibition match, yes, but gee whiz.
— Melissa Haase (@melissa_haase) January 9, 2019
I’m glad I stopped what I was doing to watch Tomic v Kyrgios 🙄
— Mitchell Kermath (@mitchykerm) January 9, 2019
Absolutely agreed. Pathetic display and lousy approach by #Tomic for final serve of the.match. Should be fined. https://t.co/WhFzBR3Mm4
— Glenn Egan (@Oze1) January 9, 2019
But the saving grace for Aussie tennis fans was Barty and de Minaur.
De Minaur chalked up another priceless tennis lesson in cutting down the equal-tallest man in professional tennis to move into the Sydney International quarter-finals for a second straight year.
De Minaur was relieved after converting his one and only opportunity into the lone service break of the match in a hard-earned 6-4 7-6 (7-4) victory over towering American qualifier Reilly Opelka on Wednesday.
Opelka, who stands as high as tennis man mountain Ivo Karlovic at 211cm, thundered down 17 aces in 11 service games, but faltered from 4-1 in the second-set tiebreaker to prevail.
Not long after, Barty also surged into the Sydney quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-4 triumph over the reigning French Open champion and 2018 Australian Open runner-up Simona Halep.
The Australian No.1 served five aces, no double-faults and broke Halep three times to reverse two previous losses to the Romanian last August.
Alex De Minaur and Ash Barty…. What a pair, at last Australia can be proud of our tennis players. Apart from their talent they actual try their guts out. Take note Tomic and Kyrgios, that's how to do it, that's what is expected if you want any respect.@TennisAustralia
— VanMan (@1959_Van) January 9, 2019
Forget about Kyrgios and Tomic’s joke of an exhibition match, Ash Barty just beat world number 1 Simona Halep in straight sets #SydneyTennis
— Sarah Black (@_sjblack) January 9, 2019
Tomic & Kyrgios can take several seats. I’m happy for Ash Barty to be the face of Australian tennis #SydneyTennis
— Nat (@nattydids) January 9, 2019
Alex De Minaur has run more in this tie-break than Tomic and Kyrgios did in their match combined #SydneyInternational
— Sarah Black (@_sjblack) January 9, 2019
The saving grace of Aussie tennis is Alex de Minaur; win or lose, we don’t care as long as we see some effort. After watching the exhibition between Tomic and Kyrgios I want to cry for #TennisAustralia #SydneyTennis #TeamAlex
— Mischief Managed (@Ess_N_Emm) January 9, 2019
And to cap off the day, John Millman became the third Australian male through to the quarters after defeating Marton Fucsovics 6-3 6-4 on Wednesday night.
For the first time in five attempts in the harbour city, Millman joins countrymen De Minaur and Jordan Thompson, who meet for a spot in the semi-finals, in the final eight.
with AAP