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SYDNEY, Australia – Australian teenage tennis star Bernard Tomic on Wednesday said he was being targeted by a police officer who he said had repeatedly pulled over his distinctive orange sports car.
The 19-year-old, ranked 42 in the world, has been granted a special exemption from his provisional licence to drive his high-octane BMW M3 (priced from around R790 000 in SA) to and from tennis training.
But the teenager, who this year became the youngest man to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals since Boris Becker in 1986, said he was pulled over by a policeman in the state of Queensland on Sunday night for allegedly "hooning" – that’s reckless driving or street racing.
Tomic told the Courier Mail: "The car's very loud but I don't know what he defines as hooning. I didn't speed, I didn't do any of that stuff."
IT'S PERSONAL
Tomic said he felt the officer had taken a personal dislike to him and was "always on my tail", insisting he had done nothing wrong and was simply going "about my business as a tennis player".
"He's pulled me over a few times but now it's starting to get a little bit more aggressive," he said. "I've got training, gym, massages and meetings I have to go to... my days are very busy getting ready for the summer.
"I don't know what it is - jealousy or whatever - but this policeman seems to have it in for me. If I did the wrong thing, he would charge me, but he hasn't."
The officer involved had been cleared of any wrongdoing.
A police spokeswoman told AFP: "The issues... have been overviewed by a senior officer and no evidence of any breach of discipline or misconduct has been identified."
The 19-year-old, ranked 42 in the world, has been granted a special exemption from his provisional licence to drive his high-octane BMW M3 (priced from around R790 000 in SA) to and from tennis training.
But the teenager, who this year became the youngest man to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals since Boris Becker in 1986, said he was pulled over by a policeman in the state of Queensland on Sunday night for allegedly "hooning" – that’s reckless driving or street racing.
Tomic told the Courier Mail: "The car's very loud but I don't know what he defines as hooning. I didn't speed, I didn't do any of that stuff."
IT'S PERSONAL
Tomic said he felt the officer had taken a personal dislike to him and was "always on my tail", insisting he had done nothing wrong and was simply going "about my business as a tennis player".
"He's pulled me over a few times but now it's starting to get a little bit more aggressive," he said. "I've got training, gym, massages and meetings I have to go to... my days are very busy getting ready for the summer.
"I don't know what it is - jealousy or whatever - but this policeman seems to have it in for me. If I did the wrong thing, he would charge me, but he hasn't."
The officer involved had been cleared of any wrongdoing.
A police spokeswoman told AFP: "The issues... have been overviewed by a senior officer and no evidence of any breach of discipline or misconduct has been identified."
