Australia's bad boys Tomic and Kyrgios told to behave or forget Rio

SYDNEY, May 7: Berrd Tomic and Nick Kyrgios have been told their behaviour must improve or they could find themselves on the sidelines rather than centre court at the Rio Olympics, according to the Australian team’s chef de mission.

Tomic has drawn heavy criticism this week following his exit from the Madrid Open when, on match point against Fabio Fognini, he held the racquet by the strings and did not offer a shot to the Italian’s serve.

The 23-year-old, who was nickmed ‘Tomic the Tank Engine’ after accusations he ‘tanked’ — or failed to try his best — in a loss to Andy Roddick at the 2012 U.S. Open, then told a News Corp. jourlist who questioned his actions in Madrid “would you care if you were 23 and worth over $10 million?”

“I think it was appalling behaviour,” Chiller told reporters in Sydney after the Australian Olympic Committee’s AGM. “It goes against every value that all the Olympians live by, it goes against everything that we’ve been trying to build in this team.

“It is not behaviour that I would want any team member in a team that I’m responsible for to exhibit.”

Chiller said both Tomic and Kyrgios, who has a history of abusing opponents, umpires and fans, were just two of the potential Rio Games athletes who were being monitored for their behaviour.

“Every athlete is under the microscope now,” Chiller added. “There’s a few athletes that are on watch and those two mes are among them.”

Tennis Australia nomites the athletes they want to include for Olympic selection and with Kyrgios ranked 21st and Tomic 22nd in the world, the duo are likely to head their picks for the Aug. 5-21 Olympics in Rio.

Tennis Australia are obliged to nomite athletes of ‘good standing’, Chiller said. The Australian Olympic Committee has the fil say on selections. “It’s their responsibility to determine whether it’s appropriate to nomite them,” Chiller added. “If any athlete from any sport is nomited, we look at everything ... including behaviour, including the disrepute clause.

“We have the ability to take that into consideration whether we proceed to select the nomition or not.” IANS