ATOMIC BERNIE
A STAR ON THE RISE
A SEEMINGLY resurgent tennis star Bernard Tomic has posted a stirring run to a final and will see his ranking surge back into the top 200.
The one-time 17th best player in the world is set to jump at least 60 spots to around the 180 mark after four wins in a row on clay this past week – including two stunning comebacks.
Overnight, the Gold Coaster was scheduled to play countryman and Brisbanite John Millman for the Aix-en-Provence Challenger title in France and a potential $30,000 payday. If he beats Millman, ranked 69, Tomic will close in on a ranking near 150.
After saving a match point in round one, Tomic was down 2-6, 1-3 in his semi against Sweden’s Elias Ymer, ranked 138.
But again Tomic turned it around in what one commentator called “surreal scenes” to win 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 and reach the final.
It is the first time Tomic has strung together more than two singles wins since January and is his first final since he won Bogota in 2015.
But more important than the points and pay cheque are signs of Tomic knuckling down and working hard for wins, according to Tennis Gold Coast president Mike Ford.
Mr Ford, a close mate of Tomic’s, told the Bulletin: “The key to this is he’s showing fight – he doesn’t like playing on clay and he is in a final.
“That is a cocktail of good news for someone who hasn’t had much good news in the past 12 months. This could be a good starting point.”
With Tomic having slumped to 243 in the world and admitting he had been bored at Wimbledon last year, many commentators question whether the talented 25-year-old will be able to fight his way back to the sport’s top echelon.
Following a loss in the last round of qualifying at the Australian Open in January, Tomic went on reality TV show I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here but quit early saying he needed to get back to training.
Mr Ford likes what he’s seeing from Tomic who burst on the scene when he sensationally made the last eight of Wimbledon aged just 18.
“You make a quarter-final of Wimbledon, you don’t just forget how to play tennis. The seed of that is in the back of his brain so don’t count him out, not yet anyway,” Mr Ford said.
Gold Coast-based Channel 7 tennis commentator Geoff Masters said it was encouraging to see Tomic winning from difficult situations: “But there is still a long way to go. It is a few good wins on a surface he’s not comfortable with but we need to see this week in, week out. Let’s hope we do see it because he has far too much ability to be languishing outside the top 200.”
Tomic won his first round at the Aix-en-Provence Challenger last week, coming back from the brink of defeat when trailing 2-5 and a match point in the third set. He reeled off the final five games to defeat French teenager Geoffrey Blancaneaux 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.
He then won his next two matches in straight sets against players ranked in the mid-300s before stunning Ymer who was favourite to win their semi-final.