Bernard Tomic has been accused of apalling behaviour in his match against Fabio Fognini.

Tomic again made headlines for all the wrong reasons this week, this time in Madrid, where he attempted to return serve with the handle of his racquet when match point down against Italy’s Fabio Fognini.

Tomic was trailing 6-2, 5-4, 40-0 when he spun his racquet the wrong way as Fognini thundered down an ace to advance at the Madrid Open.

Australia’s top ranked men’s player is now facing the prospect of being banned from the Rio Olympics.

AOC Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller has a stern message for Bernard Tomic. Picture: Andrew TauberSource:News Corp Australia

“I think it was appalling behaviour,’’ Chiller said on Saturday.

“It goes against every aspire value that all the Olympians live by, that we live by. It goes against everything that we’ve been trying to build in this team, through our ignite and aspire series and it’s not something that any of our Olympic team members behave in that way.’’

The process of Tomic being denied or accepted onto the Australian Olympic team begins with Tennis Australia nominating him for selection by the AOC.

“At this point of time, the tennis nominations aren’t due in for six or seven weeks, so I can’t comment (if Tomic will be accepted),’’ Chiller said.

“But based on the last 48 hours, all I can comment on is that is not behaviour I would want from a team member, in a team that I’m responsible for.’’

Tennis Australia will make their Olympic team nominations on June 30.

Novak Djokovic not happy with Tomic

Novak Djokovic criticised Tomic for giving up on match point in a loss at the Madrid Open this week, saying the young Australian player is lacking commitment to the sport.

Tomic later said he didn’t care because at 23 he was already worth $10 million.

The top-ranked Djokovic said he hopes Tomic realises that what he did at match point was not right.

“The sooner the better for him, because he is still relatively young and he can definitely be a better player and better ranked than he is now,” Djokovic said after reaching the quarterfinals in Madrid. “Everybody knows that. He knows that. But he doesn’t seem to really get things the right way off the court.” Djokovic said he has known the 22nd-ranked Tomic for “quite a long time,” and hopes “for his sake that he’s going to do better.” “Over the last couple of years I got to know him better and he’s a good guy, he’s a good person. But he’s just failing to be committed to this sport as it is required.

“Just many things that he says are not well thought from his side. He gets emotional very quickly and things get out of context. Unfortunately it fires back right at him,” Djokovic said. “He’s starting to feel too much probably pressure outside as well, that he has to deliver.”

Tomic, who earlier this year reached his highest ranking at 17th, was a finalist in Acapulco in February, losing to Dominic Thiem in three sets. Since then, he’s failed to advance past the third round in four straight tournaments.

“It’s a learning curve for him and for any young player. I’ve felt it on my own skin many times where I’ve done things that were not right at that time, and said some things that I was regretting,” Djokovic said. “After that, you learn. You get wiser. You mature through those times. Nobody is perfect. We are all part of this life where it’s just a big lesson and school for all of us.”