Bernard Tomic: Would you care about losing a match point if you were 23 and worth $10m?

The Australian lost in the first round of the Madrid Masters on Tuesday after throwing away the final point of the 6-2 6-4 defeat, then reinforced the notion that he was not bothered by the result with his remarks afterwards.

After barely moving in an attempt to hit a Fognini serve with his racket handle on match point, Tomic told Gold Coast Bulletin: "I don’t care about that match point – would you care if you were 23 and worth over $10 million?”

The world number 22 has been on a dire run since picking up a wrist injury against Milos Raonic in the third round of the Indian Wells tournament in March. He has lost in the first round of every ATP tournament since but has still earnt a significant sum this year, with the ATP reporting he had earned $516,268 in prize money before the Madrid debacle.

The 23-year-old has come under criticism before for his lack of effort – most notably when he recorded the quickest loss at a Masters level tournament in a 28-minute defeat to Jarkko Nieminen in Miami 2014 when he won just one game.

He also retired during the Sydney International this year, telling the umpire his mind was on the upcoming Australian Open and later claiming he had food poisoning.

An incident in 2012 where he was accused of failing to try his best against Andy Roddick in a defeat at the US Open led to him being nicknamed "Tomic the Tank Engine”.

His comments after the match with Fognini drew widespread criticism.