Bernard Tomic does not regret the controversial comments he made after exiting Wimbledon in the first round and claims he feels "trapped" by tennis.

Once considered a rising star for Australia, Tomic reached the quarter-finals at the All England Club as a teenager in 2011, losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

Now 24, a stalled career and an entrenched reputation as one of the sport's bad boys was not helped by a straight-sets loss to Mischa Zverev in SW19 earlier this month, after which Tomic told a news conference he was "bored" during the defeat and revealed he sought an unnecessary medical timeout to buy himself time. 

"I don't regret what I said," he told Channel 7. "That's why I said it - to p*** a few people off."

Tomic stated at Wimbledon that he will not have to work again after his career regardless of how much success he achieves, remarks that prompted plenty of criticism back in Australia and around the world, but he stood by that attitude toward tennis as a job rather than a passion. 

"I didn't come from a rich family," he said. "We had no money. And now… living in all these lavish houses and property around the world, it's my choice. It's something that I've worked for.

"Not many things can make me super happy. I don't like to get super happy about anything. 

"If I ever get the chance to win a grand slam, maybe only then I can truly feel the feeling of being really, really happy."

Asked what advice he would give to his younger self, Tomic said: "Don't play tennis. Do something you love and enjoy, because it's a grind, and it's a tough, tough, tough life. My position, I'm trapped. I have to do it.

"Tennis chose me. It's something I never fell in love with.

"I haven't really tried, and [still] achieved all this. So it's just amazing what I've done."

Pressed on whether he could still rediscover his passion for the sport, Tomic replied: "No, no, no. I'm just going to go about it as a job."