![Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic shielding himself from attackers (not in the frame) at a tattoo parlor in Australia in an undated video. [Twitter/Screenshot/User: @clowndownunder]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-09-090331-e1694268446972.jpg "Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic shielding himself from attackers (not in the frame) at a tattoo parlor in Australia in an undated video. [Twitter/Screenshot/User: @clowndownunder]")
A harrowing video emerged online of two men allegedly kicking and stomping on a professional tennis player outside a tattoo parlor in Australia, according to several reports.
Bernard Tomic, 31, of Queensland, is seen in the 16-second clip in an all-green tracksuit and curled up. The video shows him trying to shield his face with his hands while a male in an all-black tracksuit and another in a white t-shirt and black shorts allegedly attack him. The men appear to be shouting obscenities and other indistinct words but, towards the end, are heard saying, “Get up! Get up ya dog!”
Tomic took to Instagram Saturday to break his silence: the incident occurred years ago, per the New York Post.
“Hello everyone — hope everyone is doing well,” Tomic said. “I’m here in Istanbul, Turkey, flying to USA and I haven’t been on Instagram for a couple of months and I thought I would jump on and talk about this video that has been circulating.”
“Heh — it’s so funny — because that happened five or six years ago. So I have no idea why this is all going on now. I hope everyone is doing well — and, yah, peace.”
The attack reportedly occurred outside a tattoo parlor on the Gold Coast, news.com.au reported. The Gold Coast is about 690 miles northeast of Australia‘s capital, Canberra, on Australia’s east coast.
Queensland Police were aware of the video but were unable to investigate as they reportedly did not receive a formal complaint. “No one has been able to get confirmation on when it’s happened,” a police spokesperson had told news.com.au. (RELATED: Video Shows Chinese Soccer Coach Slapping Referee After Getting Hit With A Red Card, Reportedly Fainted Due To Anger)
Bernard Tomic attacked in Gold Coast pic.twitter.com/nTx8JMIo8i
— Clown Down Under 🤡 (@clowndownunder) September 9, 2023
Tomic was in Istanbul earlier this week for the Istanbul Challenger, where he lost Thursday to 23-year-old Dominican Nick Hardt in the second round 6-2, 3-6, 7-6.
Tomic, whose tennis career-high world ranking was 17, eventually slumped to 825. He also fell out of favor with Tennis Australia over his criticism of Australian tennis great Lleyton Hewitt and his long-running feud with fellow Aussie player Nick Kyrgios, per news.com.au. He has, however, clawed his way back up to rank 292. His former coach, Geoff Masters, reportedly said Tomic was very talented but appeared to lack the matching drive and desire to succeed in the sport.
Tomic retains his record as the youngest Australian Open boys’ singles champion, winning the title in 2008 when he was only 15 years old, per the ATP Tour.