Bernard Tomic has admitted that he has 'lost respect for tennis' and was left bored during his first-round clash with Mischa Zverev at Wimbledon.
The world number 59, whose best Grand Slam finish came at this tournament in 2011 when reaching the last eight, went down 6-4 6-3 6-4 to Zverev on Tuesday evening.
Tomic could be in trouble with event organisers after confessing that he called a medical timeout simply to disrupt his opponent's flow, but when probed after the match he rejected suggestions from reporters that he should hand back his £35,000 prize fund for a lack of effort.
"I just thought I'd try to break a bit of momentum, to use that as my strategy, because I was just playing very bad and feeling bad out there," he said. "I tried to use something different maybe, you know, slow him down a bit on the serve. He was playing quick and we were all playing quick and he was serving well.
"I wasn't mentally and physically there with my mental state to perform. I don't know why but I felt a little bit bored out there, to be completely honest with you.
"We all work for money. At 34, maybe I can donate to charity. If you ask Roger [Federer] if he'll do it, I'll do it. I believe you have to respect the sport. But I think I don't respect it enough. I just believe playing many years on tour now has sort of taken a toll."
Zverev will now face Mikhail Kukushkin, who edged past Taro Daniel elsewhere on Tuesday afternoon for a place in round two.
