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'I never loved tennis': Tomic says he built career on '50 per cent' effort

He’s been labelled a brat and an embarrassment to Australia but Bernard Tomic is far from apologetic about his bad behaviour, telling the public they should ‘get used to it’.

In an exclusive interview with Sunday Night’s Melissa Doyle, the 24-year-old Aussie tennis ace blamed a lack of motivation for his recent meltdown at Wimbledon, where he was fined $20,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“It was a patch I was going through. I wasn't motivated the last four, five months. I feel like I need to find my balance, I need to find my mindset whether it's now or in one month or in three months, it will come and it's only going to be on my terms,” he said.

Tomic bombed out in the first round and at the press conference that followed, he announced that he was ‘a little bit bored’ on the court.

He also boasted to reporters that he had so much money he didn’t care if he won or lost, causing an avalanche of outrage from fans and tennis legends.

“I don't regret what I said. That's why I said it, to piss a few people off,” he said.

Frustrated fans have all but given up on the troubled star, who openly admits to giving half-hearted performances and playing purely for the money.

But instead of feeling like he’s let his fans down, Tomic believes the success he has generated from such little effort is something to be proud of.

“I think all my career's been around 50 per cent and I haven't really tried and really achieved all this, so [it’s] just amazing what I have done,” he said.

“I never loved tennis. I am just going to go about it as a job.”

“Wouldn't anyone want to take a job in a professional sport in one of the biggest sports in the world and only give 50, 60 per cent and earn millions of dollars? I think everybody would take that.”

Tomic has earned more than $7 million in prize money alone and millions more in sponsorship. He has homes on the Gold Coast, in Miami and in Monaco.

But all that money doesn’t appear to have brought him happiness.

“My position, I am trapped. I have to do it,” he said.

“Not many things can make me super happy,” Tomic added. “If I ever get the chance to win a grand slam, I think only then will I feel the feeling of being really, really happy.”