Australian Open: Bernard Tomic claims he is sick & in isolation after mid-match COVID rant

The drama at the Australian Open does not appear to be coming to an end as following Djokovic's visa squabble, a new controversy has emerged. On Tuesday, former World No. 17 Bernard Tomic lost his cool against Russia's Roman Safiullin in his first Australian Open qualifying match. During a mid-match interview with the chair umpire during the Australian Open qualification on Tuesday, Bernard Tomic asserted that he 'will test positive' for COVID-19.

Soon after the match, Bernard Tomic said that he was feeling really unwell. On Tuesday, the 29-year-old revealed in his Instagram Story that he was feeling ill and had isolated himself at a Melbourne hotel. His Insta story's caption read, "Feeling really sick, I'm now back in my hotel room. Just spoke to the doctors on site and they've asked me to isolate. They couldn't treat me yet to avoid contact. Thank you for all the support on the court today. I really appreciate it! I'll do better next time."

Bernard Tomic COVID rant

Earlier on Tuesday, the controversial Australian tennis player made the 'COVID' remark at a change of ends in his game against Roman Safiullin. While trailing 1-2 in the second set, Tomic told chair umpire Aline Da Rocha Nocinto at the changeover that he felt he had the virus. Tomic exited quickly, losing 6-1 6-4 in 57 minutes.

"I'm sure in the next two days I will test positive, I'm telling you,' he said from his chair. I'll buy you dinner if I don't test positive in three days, otherwise you buy me dinner," the player stated.

Tomic went on to slam the Australian Open's COVID-19 testing norms, which required competitors and officials to perform quick antigen tests rather than PCR tests to check if they are infected with the virus. "They're allowing players to come on the court with rapid tests in their room, c'mon ... no official PCR testing," he added. Watch the video here:

In the fourth game, he was broken and soon surrendered, dropping the opening set in just 23 minutes. The former world No. 17 had not competed in an ATP competition since September when he retired in the first round of a Kazakhstan qualifier. That was his fifth loss in a row, but he arrived in Melbourne determined to climb the rankings once more. On the other hand, Safiullin, 24, was an unexpected star, last week, in Russia's march to the ATP Cup semi-finals.

Image: Twitter/PCBFan