A misbehaving Australian tennis player has been handed Wimbledon’s highest-ever fine for lack of effort.

Bernard Tomic has been docked £45,000 – the entirety of the prize money he was entitled to – after the All England Club ruled that he “did not perform to the required professional standard”.

During Tuesday’s 58-minute match against France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomic was rolling in serves and failed to chase balls down.

It was the shortest men’s match at the All England Club in 15 years, with Tsonga winning 6-2 6-1 6-4.

Two years ago, the world No 96 tennis player was fined £11,000 at Wimbledon – and dropped by his racquet sponsor – when he told a news conference that he felt “a little bit bored” during a first-round loss to Germany’s Mischa Zverev.

The 26-year-old’s latest performance was described as “embarrassing”, “distasteful” and “just lazy” by BBC commentators – a sentiment echoed by fans on social media.

In Tuesday’s after-match news conference, Tomic told reporters he “returned pretty bad” and that “it was a terrible match”.

When asked whether he thought he would be fined for lack of effort, Tomic replied: “What for?”

The tennis player will have the chance to appeal the decision.

In a statement released by Wimbledon on Thursday, tournament officials said: “All players are expected to perform to a professional standard in every Grand Slam match.

“With respect to first-round performance, if in the opinion of the referee the player did not perform to the required professional standard, the referee may determine that the player be subject to a fine of up to first-round prize money.

“It is the opinion of the referee that the performance of Bernard Tomic in his first round match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga did not meet the required professional standards, and therefore he has been fined the maximum amount of £45,000, which will be deducted from prize money.”

Tomic, who was once hailed as being among the game’s brightest emerging talents, has now lost in the first round of his last three Grand Slams.

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