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New York - Volatile Australian Bernard Tomic admitted on Monday that he's "not the smartest" guy in the world but insisted he has no regrets over his frequent controversial outbursts.
Tomic's first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon - and his subsequent complaints that he was "bored" with tennis and a sport that has brought him over $5 million in prize money was just a "job" - ended in predictable defeat.
He went down 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to Luxembourg 19th seed Gilles Muller in the US Open first round after missing the entire summer hardcourt season with illness.
But despite his outburts after Wimbledon, which also saw him dropped by racquet manufacturer Head, Tomic says he has no regrets.
"It's not like I can go and start a real estate business or a restaurant. I would have no idea. My job is to play tennis," he said.
"I'm not the smartest person in the world - I'm not going to be able to do a doctor's degree.
"But I was honest with my opinions. Sometimes it's better to be honest rather than hiding it and not telling your thoughts."
Tomic has plenty to think about.
His ranking is now 146 from a career high 17.
It's his lowest since he was 158 in 2011 and will sink further after failing to defend points from impressive runs last year in Toronto (fourth round) and Cincinnati (quarter-finals).
"It's been my fault. I need to turn it around and I can do it like when I was 140 and finished the year at 16 or 17," he said.
"I'm only 24. Tennis is my life. If I can win a major or two before I retire, I will be happy."
Tomic has won just nine matches this year and had suffered first round exits at the three of the four Slams.
But he still believes he can return to the top 20 and has time on his side.
"I have the motivation although I considered not coming here and maybe starting again in Asia," Tomic said.
"I will lose a lot of points and that's a concern but my health is the most important thing."
Tomic needed treatment from the trainer during his loss to Muller, who defeated Rafael Nadal on his way to the Wimbledon quarter-finals last month.
"Yeah, I tried to find a way back in to the match and gave it my best shot. There's stuff I need to work on."
Results from day 1 of the US Open on Monday (x denotes seeding):
Men
First round
Sam Querrey (USA x17) bt Gilles Simon (FRA) 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
Dudi Sela (ISR) bt Christopher Eubanks (USA) 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
Radu Albot (MDA) bt Ernesto Escobedo (USA) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x25) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3
Mischa Zverev (GER x23) bt Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (USA) 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
Benoît Paire (FRA) bt Lukáš Lacko (SVK) 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5)
Hyeon Chung (KOR) bt Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 3-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-4, 6-3
John Isner (USA x10) bt Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Jordan Thompson (AUS) bt Jack Sock (USA x13) 6-2, 7-6 (14/12), 1-6, 5-7, 6-4
Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) bt John-Patrick Smith (AUS) 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4)
Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) bt João Sousa (POR) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2
Gilles Muller (LUX x19) bt Bernard Tomic (AUS) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Kevin Anderson (RSA x28) bt JC Aragone (USA) 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) bt Alessandro Giannessi (ITA) 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 7-5
Borna Coric (CRO) bt Jirí Veselý (CZE) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/2), 6-2
Alexsander Zverev (GER x4) bt Darian King (BAR) 7-6 (11/9), 7-5, 6-4
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x8) bt Marius Copil (ROM) 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
Denis Shapovalov (CAN) bt Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 7-5, 6-1, 6-2
Steve Johnson (USA) bt Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5)
Kyle Edmund (GBR) bt Robin Haase (NED x32) 6-3, 7-5, 6-3
Albert Ramos (ESP x20) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 7-5
Nicolas Mahut (FRA) bt Márton Fucsovics (HUN) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/3)
Cameron Norrie (GBR) bt Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) 7-6 (9/7), 6-1 - retired
Pablo Carreño-Busta (ESP x12) bt Evan King (USA) 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5)
Lucas Pouille (FRA x16) bt Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) bt Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) 7-6 (7/3), 5-1 - retired
Jared Donaldson (USA) bt Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) 6-0, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6)
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) bt David Ferrer (ESP x21) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
Diego Schwartzman (ARG x29) bt Carlos Berlocq (ARG) 6-2, 6-1, 6-3
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) bt Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 6-7 (5/7), 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3
Florian Mayer (GER) bt Rogério Dutra Silva (BRA) 7-5, 0-6, 6-3, 6-4
Marin Cilic (CRO x5) bt Tennys Sandgren (USA) 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Women
First round
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x5) bt Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROM) 6-1, 7-5
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) bt Mona Barthel (GER) 6-2, 6-1
Carla Suárez (ESP) bt Ipek Soylu (TUR) 6-4, 6-2
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO x29) bt Mónica Puig (PUR) 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/4)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) bt Kiki Bertens (NED x24) 6-3, 6-4
Arina Rodionova (AUS) bt Richel Hogenkamp (NED) 7-5, 7-5
Océane Dodin (FRA) bt Pauline Parmentier (FRA) 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (8/6)
Venus Williams (USA x9) bt Viktória Kužmová (SVK) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Petra Kvitova (CZE x13) bt Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 7-5, 7-5
Alize Cornet (FRA) bt Heather Watson (GBR) 6-4, 6-4
Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) bt Anna Zaja (GER) 6-2, 6-3
Caroline Garcia (FRA x18) bt Tereza Martincova (CZE) 6-0, 6-1
Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK x31) bt Camila Giorgi (ITA) 6-3, 6-4
Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) bt Misa Eguchi (JPN) 6-2, 6-2
Duan Ying-Ying (CHN) bt Claire Liu (USA) 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/3)
Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP x3) bt Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 6-0, 6-3
Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) bt Johanna Konta (GBR x7) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) bt Johanna Larsson (SWE) 7-5, 6-4
Zheng Saisai (CHN) bt Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Julia Goerges (GER x30) bt Annika Beck (GER) 6-1, 6-0
Ashleigh Barty (AUS) bt Ana Konjuh (CRO x21) 4-6, 6-0, 6-1
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) bt Julia Boserup (USA) 6-2, 6-2
Sloane Stephens (USA) bt Roberta Vinci (ITA) 7-5, 6-1
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x11) bt Jana Cepelová (SVK) 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-2
Anastasija Sevastova (LAT x16) bt Carina Witthoeft (GER) 7-5, 6-1
Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) bt Irina Begu (ROM) 6-2, 7-6 (9/7)
Donna Vekic (CRO) bt Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) 6-2, 6-1
Peng Shuai (CHN x22) bt Amandine Hesse (FRA) 6-4, 6-1
Sofia Kenin (USA) bt Lauren Davis (USA x32) 7-5, 7-5
Sachia Vickery (USA) bt Natalia Vikhlyantseva (RUS) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
Maria Sharapova (RUS) bt Simona Halep (ROM x2) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Tímea Babos (HUN) bt Viktorija Golubic (SUI) 7-5, 5-7, 7-5
