Tomic to match up on Murray after win

BERNARD Tomic’s reward for his first win in more than three months is a clash with world No.1 Andy Murray.

Tomic broke a run of five consecutive first-round losses with a three-set win over German journeyman Dustin Brown at the Barcelona Open.

On his least preferred surface of clay, Tomic downed another player who prefers the faster courts in world No.75 Brown, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.

It was Tomic’s first win since the Australian Open in January, a horror stretch for the former world No.17 who has slipped down to No.41 in the rankings.

He’s now due to face Murray, who had a bye to move directly into the second round.

That will prove a tough ask for the 24 year-old who has yet to take a set off the Brit in their four meetings on tour.

With few points to defend during the clay court swing, Tomic will hope to jag some more wins and rebuild his ranking before Wimbledon.

The former All England Club quarter-finalist is still eyeing off pushing back into the top 32 before Wimbledon, in order to guarantee avoiding seeded players in the first two rounds.

With points to defend from a fourth round appearance at Wimbledon last year and semifinal at Queens, a further ranking slide awaits unless his form improves markedly over the next three months.

Meanwhile, fellow Gold Coast product Samantha Stosur bowed out of the Tennis Grand Prix after a three-set first-round loss to Anastasija Sevastova in Stuttgart.

Stosur went down 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 on clay for her fourth firstround loss this year. The 33year-old endured a disastrous first set when she was broken three times by the Latvian.

She regained her composure to take the second before losing serve again in the penultimate game of the deciding set, winning fewer than half the points on her second serve during the match.