Australian tennis star Bernard Tomic retired mid-match during an ATP Challengers event in Arkansas after a bizarre argument with his girlfriend, who was watching on from the stands. Tomic had dropped from a career-high world ranking of 17 down to 247, as he attempted to boost his standings at the Little Rock Open.

But after going 6-1 down to Japan’s Yuta Shimizu in the first set, the 31-year-old began to complain about feeling unwell as he struggled to compete on the court. He spoke with a doctor early in the morning according to expert Zachary Cohen and claimed that his girlfriend had tested positive for Covid.

As the players prepared to get the second set underway, a bizarre argument broke out between Tomic and his girlfriend Keely Hannah, exchanging verbal jabs from the court and sideline.

An ATP Challengers commentator described the incident as “uncomfortable” and “very strange” as spectators were forced to witness a tiff between the pair as they argued about when she tested positive.

"Bernard and his girlfriend just continuing to argue,” the commentator explained. "The long and short of it, Bernie saying, 'You tested positive for Covid today', girlfriend saying, 'No, that was two weeks ago'.

"I did not anticipate having to commentate a couple's quarrel here - but here we are. Either way, uncomfortable for all the fans here, who are just wanting to see a little bit of tennis tonight, but I don't know that they're going to get it."

Tomic then confirmed his retirement from the match and later tested positive for Covid. The match lasted just 23 minutes and Shimizu advanced to the quarter-finals as a result of the default.

As Tomic walked off the court to confirm the end of the match, the commentator added: "All right, that does it. So, retiring due to illness is Bernard Tomic.

"Well, that's a very awkward way to end, and a rather 'Bernie' way to end, isn't it? Tough way to go out. Tomic now, we'll see if he's able to recover. And again, how the heck did he win that match [against Thai-Son Kwiatkowski] a couple of days ago?"