Bernie’s back on track
BERNARD Tomic is one win away from a remarkable redemption story after storming into the final round of French Open qualifying in Paris.
Tomic’s impressive 6-3, 6-1 victory over rising Brit Jay Clarke booked Australia’s fallen tennis star a date with destiny today against Portugal’s Goncalo Oliveira.
Few would have predicted after his humiliating failure to qualify for his home grand slam tournament in January – and subsequent appearance on reality TV and rankings plunge to outside the world’s top 200 – that the Gold Coaster would rebound so spectacularly on the European clay.
But after winning six of his past seven matches on the red dirt, his best ever run on his least preferred surface, the one-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist is now tantalisingly close to a spot in the French Open main draw.
Overlooked for a wildcard at the season’s first two majors, exiled from the Australian Davis Cup fold and dumped by his racquet sponsor after his lame Wimbledon showing last year, Tomic had his polarising coach and father John in support on Roland Garros’s outside court six yesterday.
Concerned pre-match that his battered body might not hold up after so much tennis in recent weeks, Tomic, 25, looked in trouble early against Clarke, a teenage whiz recently snapped up by IMG.
The fatiguing Gold Coaster was staring down break points at 2-2 in the opening set. But he escaped and nudged ahead 4-2 after Clarke gifted him a break with a loose game from 30-0 up on serve.
It proved the only break of 46-minute dogfight of a first set.
Relieved and growing in confidence, Tomic only needed half as long to nab the second – and the match – to be Australia’s lone men’s qualifying survivor.