Bernard Tomic has offered an apology for using the word ‘retard’ during a Wimbledon press conference.

The 23-year-old Australian made his remark on Wednesday when responding to a question about being made to wait on court for his opponent, Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

Speaking to the media again on Thursday, after winning his second-round match against Radu Albot, Tomic was asked about the incident.

“Yeah, look, I apologise if I offended anyone. I’m sorry. It just came out the wrong way,” he said.

On Wednesday, after the Verdasco match, Tomic had said: “Yeah, I did get to the court prior to him very early, and unfortunately I had to stand on court like a retard,.”

Learning disability charity Mencap called his language “damaging and offensive”.