By Scoop Malinowski
Bernard Tomic is now ranked 580 in the world and his last ATP title was four years ago at Chengdu 250 but the 29 year old former junior prodigy is not finished yet.
Tomic trained last week at the Sammy Giammalva Tennis Academy in Texas with a Texas A&M player to prepare for an ITF $25,000 tournament in Harlingen, Texas.
The former world no. 17 will play in the first round against Spain’s Alex Martinez, ATP 892. The top seed in the Harlingen draw is Great Britain’s Charlie Broom.
This summer, Tomic made the decision to humble himself and drop down to the lowest level of professional tennis in order to try to raise his ranking which had fallen to 825. While his former peers were focusing on Cincinnati and Flushing Meadows, Tomic was grinding it out in ITF $15,000 tournaments in Cancun, Mexico. Tomic won 12 of this 13 matches in Cancun, and his first two ITF singles titles (he defeated American world no. 597 Tristan McCormick and no. 744 Alexander Cozbinov of Moldova, in back-to-back finals in Mexico).
Tomic had lost in the QF of his first Cancun $15k to Ignacio Buse of Spain but he has won 20 consecutive sets since.
As a result of the hot streak, Tomic has improved his ranking by 166 places in the ATP rankings since his first visit to Cancun in late August.
The intriguing questions remain… Is Tomic on target to once again compete in Grand Slam draws and perhaps the 2023 Australian Open? Has Tomic finally found the inspiration, discipline and desire to 100% apply his talents and hustle to find out what his absolute best level of tennis is capable of accomplishing? Can his old school style of play still get the job done in this new era of power tennis? Is the very best of Tomic ahead or was it played at 2011 Wimbledon when he reached the QF?
Tomic, who declared as a teenager that he would be no. 1 in the world and win all the Grand Slams by obtaining the serve of Goran Ivanisevic, the mind of Pete Sampras, the strokes of Roger Federer and the fighting heart of Lleyton Hewitt, is now coached by the great Tony Roche and Gavin Hopper. Whatever one may say about Bernard Tomic and his career ATP match record of 186-182 and four ATP singles titles, it’s exciting and inspiring that he hasn’t given up his career. It’s thrilling that Tomic still believes in himself and he still is working hard to prove something.
Check out my Biofile interview with Bernard Tomic
Aussie · Bernard Tomic · Chengdu · Lleyton Hewitt · Mizuno · Roger Federer · Wimbledon · Yonex
Cory · October 19, 2022 at 3:59 pm
He’s unlikeable but always a story, always lurking, always capable… the fact that he’s grinding ITFs speaks volumes. His ranking is still a good 3-6 months of steady ITF success away from even Challenger level draws. I could be off.
Scoop Malinowski · October 19, 2022 at 8:29 pm
Cory, he has a nice game to watch, smooth creative aesthetic but he never connected with fans or endeared himself to the public, just one of those guys out there for business only. Maybe he’s learned to love the sport and appreciate it more and he could still become a sentimental fan favorite.