Revitalised Tomic sees ranking rise
BERNARD Tomic will next week make a bittersweet return to the scene of his greatest triumph.
The Queenslander will contest Wimbledon qualifying for the first time since 2011 – the year he defied the odds to reach the main draw before storming into the quarter- finals.
The first teenager to reach the last eight since Boris Becker in 1986, the prodigious Tomic was trumpeted as a future grand slam champion.
Seven years on, Tomic’s statement of intent remains exactly that.
Having climbed to a career- high mark of No. 17, the Gold Coaster plummeted to No. 243 last month.
A renaissance many thought beyond him is now under way.
With 11 wins from 14 matches, the silky right- hander has shaved almost 100 places off his ranking to sit at No. 146.
At ‘ s- Hertogenbosch last week, he notched his first win over a top- 50 player – Dutchman Robin Haase – in a year and then repeated the feat against No. 34 Fernando Verdasco.
Beaten in a quality semi- final by grand slam semi- finalist Richard Gasquet, Tomic is clearly fitter than he was during a wasteful 2017 season when his ranking plummeted from No. 26 to oblivion,
Unfortunately, his charge from qualifying to the last four in Holland came at a cost. His involvement there meant he was unable to enter qualifying in rankings- rich events at Queen’s Club and Halle.