Covid saga on court sparks Bernard Tomic's unconventional match exit in Arkansas

Former World No. 17 Bernard Tomic abandoned a match following an argument with his girlfriend. The Australian tennis player was competing at the Little Rock Challenger in Arkansas as the 5th seed and had advanced to the second round after defeating American Thai-Son Kwiatkowski 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The current World No. 247 faced Japan’s Yuta Shimizu in the second round, playing an irregular first set without any break opportunities and winning only 11 points to his opponent's 29, resulting in a decisive 6-1 for the Japanese player.

The 31-year-old began to complain of feeling unwell while competing. According to expert Zachary Cohen, Tomic had spoken with a doctor early in the morning, stating that his girlfriend had tested positive for Covid.

As the players prepared to start the second set, Tomic and his girlfriend Keely Hannah began an unusual argument with verbal exchanges between the court and the bench. An ATP Challenger commentator described the incident as ‘uncomfortable,’ as the couple argued in front of the audience about her positive Covid test.

"Bernard and his girlfriend just continuing to argue,” the commentator explained. "The long and short of it, Bernie saying, 'You tested positive for Covid today', girlfriend saying, 'No, that was two weeks ago'.

"I did not anticipate having to commentate a couple's quarrel here - but here we are. Either way, uncomfortable for all the fans here, who are just wanting to see a little bit of tennis tonight, but I don't know that they're going to get it," the commentator added.

Following the argument, Tomic spoke with the umpire and retired from the match after just 23 minutes, advancing his opponent to the quarterfinals. It was later confirmed that the Australian player tested positive for Covid: "All right, that does it. So, retiring due to illness is Bernard Tomic,” the commentator said.

"Well, that's a very awkward way to end, and a rather 'Bernie' way to end, isn't it? Tough way to go out. Tomic now, we'll see if he's able to recover. And again, how the heck did he win that match [against Thai-Son Kwiatkowski] a couple of days ago?"