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Breaking News: Bernard Tomic Has Won A Match
58 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Scoop
By Scoop Malinowski
Bernard Tomic, with his ranking plummeting and career nosediving, has won his first match since late June. Tomic’s triumph came today in the first round in Tokyo, a 63 36 63 win against Portugal’s Joao Sousa.
Tomic has struggled mightily since the summer, losing first rounds in his last four events. Tomic’s last win came in the round of sixteen in Eastbourne, a three setter vs Mischa Zverev. Since Eastbourne, Tomic has lost first round at Wimbledon (to M Zverev in straight sets), first round US Open (To G Muller in four sets) and first round in Chengdu (to K Edmund in two sets).
The 24-year-old Tomic was ranked his career highest 17 in 2016 but with poor results his ranking has falled to a disastrous 162 right now. Tomic’s next match in Tokyo will be the winner of Young vs Schwartzman.
Now 10-17 on the year, it’s a positive sign that Tomic is playing ATP main draws which suggests he’s serious about reviving his career after hitting rock bottom at Wimbledon where he infamously revealed he doesn’t always care whether he wins or loses.
Tomic has won three career ATP singles titles and his overall W/L record 169-156 with over $5 million in career prize earnings.
While the win today vs Sousa is a confidence builder, it was not exactly unexpected. Tomic beat Sousa last year and in 2015, both in straight sets, both on hard courts.
For Tomic to regain respect in the ATP locker room and to rebuild his abysmal ranking, he will need sustain positive results over an extended period.
It remains unknown if Tomic can summon the fighting spirit and burning desire that will be required for him to regain his lost status as an elite player on the ATP World Tour.
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1 2 Next »Duke Carnoustie · October 3, 2017 at 1:58 am
Mladenovic has pulled out from Hong Kong next week due to a knee injury. She should take the rest of the year off.
Good matches going on Querrey-Gasquet, Sharapova-Makarova, Dzumhur-Dimitrov.
catherine · October 3, 2017 at 2:29 am
Mladenovic isn’t the only one who should take the rest of the year off 🙂
Sharapova/Makarova going into the 3rd. Maria’s certainly been given a work-out since she returned.
catherine · October 3, 2017 at 3:02 am
While I’m here – Sharapova wrapped that up quickly and
Dimitrov and Kyrgios go through.
catherine · October 3, 2017 at 5:31 am
2 more WTA retirements – organisers must be thrilled.
dan markowitz · October 3, 2017 at 6:43 am
Kozlov and Klein both get easy wins in Stockton and guess who’s in the event and will most certainly win? Liam Broady, who also won. He beat Mitchell Krueger, who never seems to do well in any Challenger. You’ve got the two finalists from last week, Norrie and Sandgren, you’ve got Rubin and the Koz and Mac Mac, but my money’s on Broady.
Hartt · October 3, 2017 at 9:02 am
Milos Raonic won his match over Troicki in Tokyo in SS. This was Milos’ first match after being away for 7 weeks following wrist surgery. He served well and generally played well at the net, making some good volleys. He was being careful with his wrist, mainly hitting a slice BH. Troicki was attacking the BH but to no avail. I am so glad to see Milos back, he will play Sugita next.
Duke Carnoustie · October 3, 2017 at 10:58 am
Steve Johnson beat Domi Thiem! How about that?
How about Sharapova playing Halep?
catherine · October 3, 2017 at 11:11 am
Duke – Simona quotes ‘Mr Tiriac’ as being very pleased they are playing each other again. It’s an unusual rivalry, not just the height difference ! and played in good spirit despite friction in the past.
I hope Simona can squeeze out a win this time.
catherine · October 3, 2017 at 11:40 am
Trivia department – Cornet threw tiny tantrum (surprise surprise) in match v Kerber and Angie apparently told her off at the end for blaming coach for her own mistake. Little flurry on Youtube over what Angie said. She didn’t look too pleased but I’m not sure if her comment was necessary after the match was over. Nothing to do with her. Angie’s getting fractious.
But does anyone like playing Cornet ?
Dan Markowitz · October 3, 2017 at 11:48 am
Dan Markowitz writes:
Why would a player like Raonic, so injury-prone, come back and start playing tour matches only seven weeks after wrist surgery? And then he was hitting his backhand easy. Doesn't sound good to me. I'd want to rehab that wrist until I didn't give it a second thought about ripping a backhand.
catherine · October 3, 2017 at 12:26 pm
Milos is one of the players joining the current chorus, men and women,complaining about the stress and strain of the circuit causing injuries, burn out etc. Maybe there’s cause for the complaints but I’m not sure what can be done about it. Top players want to play fewer tournaments, lesser players want, need, to play more.
Scoop Malinowski · October 3, 2017 at 12:39 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Saw Kozlov belting his forehand harder, he also used drop shot effectively. Was down 0-40 on serve in mid of second set and won the game using three or four drop shot winners. Looked like his forehand had a bit more venom after the over-month long hiatus. Big win for Kozlov though he only beat a fringe player but a win is a win. Klein really needed his win too. Norrie beat Sandgren in the final in Tiburon, Norrie must be playing very well because Sandgren makes you earn it.
Scoop Malinowski · October 3, 2017 at 12:40 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Johnson has looked like a top 15 player all year to me. I see Johnson knocking on the door of the top ten next year.
Scoop Malinowski · October 3, 2017 at 12:44 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
I love Cornet's antics, she is a pleasure to watch. Nice that Kerber put her hands on her hips and called her out for her nonsense. Women's tennis needs more drama and shenanigans, so does the ATP actually. Saw on US Open instgram the old video of Muster vs Henman on Ashe and Henman won a wild point with a drop shot then volley winner and Muster ran around the net and chased Tim out of Ashe. But it was not a joke. No smiles. Muster was trying to fluster Tim. I watched this match live and it was a great battle which Tim was playing out of his mind. Muster was on his A game too but he just could not take control of the match because Henman was on fire so he tried this play of suddenly chasing Tim out of Ashe but Tim kept his head and finished the job in four sets I believe. People thought it was a joke and Moo's sense of humor but more than that it was Moo Man trying to disrupt Tim's cool and excellent play. Nice try by Moo but it failed. Great match it was.
Scoop Malinowski · October 3, 2017 at 12:46 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
I wonder if it was a real surgery, would like to see the scar on the wrist to be honest. In this day and age with so much fake news and smokescreens, I just would like to see the scar, no disrespect no controversy no accusations or allegations, just like to see the scar for the heck of it.
catherine · October 3, 2017 at 12:59 pm
Ha ha Scoop I’ll pass on something I heard the other day which will fuel your suspicions: Andy Murray never had an operation on his back, the photo of him in hospital was a fake, he had second thoughts at the last minute and his current hip problems are the result 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · October 3, 2017 at 1:30 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Catherine; "believe half of what you see and zero of what you hear or read" 🙂 We live in a fake news age of deception and propaganda. "The truth is the rarest, most valuable commodity on earth." Yes for sure bluffing and deception are and always have been a part of tennis and boxing. Like Bernard Hopkins, one of the greatest boxers of all time once said, "If you can bluff 'em you can beat 'em."
Front242 · October 3, 2017 at 1:45 pm
So if he wasn't injured why did he skip a good 2 months of tennis? Seems a bit fast to come back alright but obviously only minor surgery in that case. Hardly a silent ban and if he's now hitting powder puff backhands it seems completely legit and believable.
catherine · October 3, 2017 at 2:03 pm
I don’t believe that Murray story for a single minute.
Hartt · October 3, 2017 at 2:46 pm
Why would Milos fake an injury? He has always said it was minor surgery, removing a bit of bone that was causing pain, something he lived with for some time until the pain got worse.
I imagine he is quite cautious about coming back, after he came back too early a couple seasons ago to play Wimbledon and ended up with other physical problems as a result. If he can manage with the BH slice it is at least worth trying to play instead of losing yet more time.
Hartt · October 3, 2017 at 3:46 pm
If you want a wacky theory, just read Dan Evans’ explanation of how he came to have cocaine in his system. These tennis players who are explaining away drugs should be fiction writers, the stories get stranger and stranger. These drugs seem to be able to move around on their own a lot. 🙂
Evans was given a one year suspension, so will be back next spring.
Scoop Malinowski · October 3, 2017 at 8:42 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Probably it is a legit injury and surgery. Just the climate of the world today I tend to be skeptical of all news. Media manipulation is a very powerful tool. We live in a world of truth and propaganda. I think Raonic was at low confidence and also needed a break. He's had a very disappointing and ineffective year and blaming an injury for poor play and poor results is a wise tactic. Like when Federer concocted the mono excuse after losing to Djokovic in Australia that one year. But where was the mono in the previous round when Fed destroyed Santoro in three sets?
Scoop Malinowski · October 3, 2017 at 8:43 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Hartt; Raonic has had a bad year. To create an excuse for the bad year by using a fake injury is very wise.
Thomas Tung · October 3, 2017 at 9:06 pm
To me, it seems like after Federer’s “successful” experiment in taking half of the year off, that others are doing the same. Given the (overall) greatly increased difficulty of the “average ATP player” (as opposed to past times, but just after the super-competitive “barnstorming” days of Segura, Gonzales, Hoad, top 2 pros vs top 2 amateurs, etc.), it’s no surprise that many of the big names are taking “rest” for their worn-out bodies.
Paradoxially, because of the slower surfaces and spin-friendly strings, this has actually allowed the older players to last a lot longer than before (also, the incredible stubborness and ability of the “Top 5” have been a virtual Berlin Wall in preventing talent that, in other years, might have broken through to win a few Slams). No more wild breakthroughs like Michael Chang, Boris Becker, or even Mats Wilander — you have to, at least partially, grind your way to victory, as much as shoot your way to victory. Bill Tilden would be very pleased (he was no fan of “percentage tennis”/serve and volley play, as I found out upon reading his classic “Match Play and the Spin of the Ball” in my high school library), as he viewed tennis as a dedicated physical chess match.
This is why we are so excited by guys like Denis Shapovalov and Alexander Zverev; especially the charismatic and captivating Denis, who reminds me (more than anything else) of a young left-handed Hewitt [speed, shot selection] with the power and shotmaking ability of Henri Leconte (and that is a very formidable combination, indeed).
Dan Markowitz · October 3, 2017 at 11:27 pm
Dan Markowitz writes:
Geez, Tursunov handed the youngster Felix a nice lumping 2 and 2. Some good matchups in 2nd round in Stockton: Norrie v Klein, Sandgren v Broady, Rubin v King and The Koz v Kudla.
catherine · October 4, 2017 at 5:18 am
Simona 1st set from Sharapova 6-2.
catherine · October 4, 2017 at 5:54 am
SS for Simona – seems to have got Maria’s number.
Hartt · October 4, 2017 at 6:46 am
Scoop, a big part of why Milos has had a poor season is that he was once again plagued with injuries. He had to withdraw from several tourneys and give WOs in 2 others. If you read his latest comments he is beyond frustrated with this.
If he just wanted a break this would seem like a strange time to do it. He missed Cincy, where he made the SFs last year, losing to Murray, hardly a poor result, given the way Andy was playing late last season. And he missed the USO, a big tourney for any player, but especially for one who likes hard courts. He also had to withdraw from the Laver Cup and miss out on playing with some great players.
Hartt · October 4, 2017 at 7:16 am
Further news – in the not a surprise dept., Tomic lost to Schwartzman 6-3, 6-1. I did not see the match itself, but the handshake at the net was funny, Tomic absolutely towered over Schwartzman.
Hartt · October 4, 2017 at 7:21 am
In Kerber news, Angie will play with Sascha at the Hopman Cup. In checking that out (after all, we don’t want any “fake news” here), I discovered that Federer and Bencic will play again (lucky Belinda), and was surprised to learn that Bouchard and Pospisil are playing. It must be because of Genie’s ongoing star power, because neither is doing well these days. But it will be good preparation for them, no real pressure.
catherine · October 4, 2017 at 8:18 am
Hartt -Good to hear Angie’s going to play Hopman Cup with Sascha. Should be strong pairing and will help her game I think.
Hartt · October 4, 2017 at 8:31 am
Playing with Sascha should be fun and I agree it could help her game. He will play with a of intensity, he is so competitive.
Scoop Malinowski · October 4, 2017 at 8:35 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Hartt; I saw Raonic's Delray SF win vs Delpo and did not see any hint of any injury in that match, then he pulled out of the final vs Sock and disappeared for weeks. Strange. Could it be minor nagging injuries? Or substandard play and then the injuries? Fed's mono and Rafa's knees leave me suspicious of just about every injury. Remember Rafa claiming his knee pain was the very worst pain he ever felt the day before his first round match in Australian then guess what, the knee pain must have floated away because Rafa won the title.
catherine · October 4, 2017 at 8:35 am
I can’t honestly understand Bouchard still apparently having pulling power at the top of the game. Her results really don’t justify it. The glamour I suppose.
Simona’s looking really good and I expect her to win in Beijing. Could be influence of her new co-coach ?
Angie’s co-coach seems to have disappeared. Maybe that one didn’t work out. Anyway I’m glad she’s committed herself to next year after what must have been a pretty dispiriting season at times in ’17.
Scoop Malinowski · October 4, 2017 at 8:36 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Schwartzman heading to top ten. You heard it here first. Tomic heading to sub-200?
catherine · October 4, 2017 at 9:18 am
General point re German tennis – I think the Germans are going to try to push for a big presence in the game and the appointment of Becker and Barbara Rittner as heads of the men’s and women’s sides is probably an indication of this. The men’s future looks good with Sascha but Angie is coming to the end of her career and the other German girls are more or less middling standard – no budding Steffis in the offing.
Of course there are unlimited Euros to be invested in German tennis with the sports, car companies etc. So it will be interesting.
Did the Hopman Cup start as a national team thing ? I can’t remember. Seems to have become one.
Hartt · October 4, 2017 at 10:00 am
Catherine, Hopman Cup started in 1989 and has always been a national team competition. The players are invited to play in it. I was curious about how different countries had performed, and Germany won it twice, in 1993 with Graf and Stich and then in 1995 with Huber and Becker. The USA has won the most often – 6 times. Canada has only taken part a couple times.
I always enjoy it. I like the combination of men’s and women’s singles and the mixed doubles (which we don’t get to see very often).
I am also puzzled about Genie’s ongoing star power, but it is definitely there. I saw it first-hand at this year’s Rogers Cup, and she is not a big name only in Canada. She generates a lot of discussion, both pro and con, on various tennis sites. Her good looks certainly play a role, but I think there is more to it than that. The fact that so many people are incredibly nasty about her as well as her having a lot of fans, shows that she generates strong feelings, for whatever reason.
Dan Markowitz · October 4, 2017 at 10:12 am
Don’t agree with you, Thomas, that Shapovalov reminds me of lefty Hewitt. Shapovalov has about as different a game as Hewitt that I can think of. I look at Dennis as being more of a Henri Leconte, a real shot-maker. Hewitt wasn’t so much of a shot-maker and didn’t come up to the net nearly as much as Dennis.
Duke Carnoustie · October 4, 2017 at 10:59 am
Great win for Simona to finally break through. It’s about damn time!
Scoop, Johnson has been playing well all year? He himself has said his prep has been bad since his dad died and he’s had a terrible season. Having said that, I believe he has big potential too as far as top-20; he should have beat Murray last year at the Olympics. More faith in SteveJo than the fading Sock.
Scoop I do agree with you that Milos is faking his injuries. I believe its a way to take pressure off of himself and giving himself an excuse to fail.
Scoop Malinowski · October 4, 2017 at 10:59 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
The only similarities I see in Hewitt and Shapovalov is the hair color, backwards hat and on court enthusiasm/intensity/spirit. Two totally different players. I like the Leconte-Shapovalov comparison, as far as playing style. Also in Shapovalov I see Nadal, Kvitova, and a little of young Roddick.
Scoop Malinowski · October 4, 2017 at 11:01 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Bouchard is the new Kournikova. She is the beauty glam girl of the WTA.
Hartt · October 4, 2017 at 12:59 pm
Denis said he was very influenced by Federer – he liked Fed’s attacking style. He is also keen on continuing to improve his net game. Somehow I don’t see Denis spending a lot of time at the baseline if he can help it.
Front242 · October 4, 2017 at 2:53 pm
scoop said:
↑
Federer didn't concoct any excuse. Mono is intermittent as evidenced by Soderling sweating like Michael Jackson in the kid's playground against Tomic at Wimbledon 2011 and unable to play properly and then in November of the same year he was a beast in Bastad and a few days later it got so bad he had to retire for good. Federer was also sweating profusely at the AO and he rarely ever does. I suggest reading up on mono as there are too many people out there claiming it was a bs excuse in 2008 without proper knowledge of the disease and how it flares up intermittently and of course in some severe cases it's career ending like for Ancic and Soderling.
Scoop Malinowski · October 4, 2017 at 3:52 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
But Fed looked fine and played well vs Djokovic that day and there was no sign of any illness or any hint of physical fatigue. I love Federer but I think he fabricated the mono card to devalue the win by Djokovic. Just my opinion.
Scoop Malinowski · October 4, 2017 at 4:02 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Hartt: I can see the Federer factor in Denis. But also the Nadal and Roddick elements too. No doubt Denis has studied the best. And he is his own special kind of player. Sampras studied Laver. Fed studied Sampras Becker Edberg Rios. Nadal I believe studied Hewitt. Denis will become his own special kind of great player just like these I mentioned.
Front242 · October 4, 2017 at 4:08 pm
scoop said:
↑
Maybe you need to ask yourself why in the name of Odin's beard Federer went 5 sets with Tipsarevic. He had some very poor losses in 2008 and it was clear something was up. He fabricated mono and continued to have very poor results compared to 2007… I don't think so.
Guess Ancic and Soderling fabricated theirs too but decided to go one step further and retire.
Scoop Malinowski · October 4, 2017 at 5:00 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
You seem to think it's impossible for Fed to use a fake excuse. Everyone who plays Fed plays the match of their lives against him. Michael Russell match point on Kuerten in Paris, same thing. We saw zero hint of any mono or fatigue or illness vs Santoro. If you think Fed is perfect and impossible of making a fake excuse, keep believing that. You may be right. But I think Fed is human and he is vulnerable to bad losses and low biorhythms. Ever the greatest have off days. Even journeymen and lower ranked players are capable of tennis magic.
Front242 · October 4, 2017 at 5:29 pm
I don't think for one minute he's perfect and incapable of making a fake excuse but that was clearly not a time when he made an excuse. Anyone watching his play could see that. He started losing matches in 2008 to guys he'd never lost against before and took forever to beat the mighty Janko Tipsarevic which should be proof enough for you that he was not ok and just said mono is intermittent and you need to read up on it…
Front242 · October 4, 2017 at 5:29 pm
scoop said:
↑
I don't think for one minute he's perfect and incapable of making a fake excuse but that was clearly not a time when he made an excuse. Anyone watching his play could see that. He started losing matches in 2008 to guys he'd never lost against before and took forever to beat the mighty Janko Tipsarevic which should be proof enough for you that he was not ok. As I said above, mono is intermittent and you need to read up on it…
As aforementioned, Soderling was an absolute beast in Bastad and retired a week later 'cos he could barely stay awake or get up off the couch. He lost 1 (!) game against Berdych in the Bastad semi and beat Ferrer 6-2 6-2 in the final. Retired a week later 'cos of complete exhaustion due to chronic mono. What more proof does anyone need?!
Hartt · October 4, 2017 at 5:44 pm
Scoop, I agree that Denis likely has been influenced by several players. It was almost funny that when he was beating guys like Rafa, Delpo and Tsonga he kept saying they were his idols as a kid. And I like your comparison to Kvitova – he definitely has the same go for broke style. (Although Marty Laurendeau has tried to convince him to hit with a little more margin at times.)
And his mother was very wise to let him stay with his own style – very aggressive, one-handed BH, etc., when he was a kid. There is a video of Denis as as a youngster – he looks about 8 years old, and the elements of his current game were already there.