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Tomic resurgent as he reaches Chengdu quarterfinals

By Keshav Gopalan

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 05: Bernard Tomic of Australia returns a shot against Kei Nishikori of Japan during their Men's Singles second round match on day four of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 5, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 05: Bernard Tomic of Australia returns a shot against Kei Nishikori of Japan during their Men's Singles second round match on day four of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 5, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) /
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After slipping to world number 234 earlier in this year, Bernard Tomic has since redeemed himself; he’s now 109 in the live rankings with a 2nd round at Wimbledon and a quarterfinals posting at the Chengdu Open, along with 11 victories out of 14 matches. As he races towards the top 100, can Tomic sustain this level of play?

His season after the US Open

Tomic has slowly and quietly been climbing the rankings. After failing to qualify for the US Open, Tomic went to Mallorca to play the Rafael Nadal Open (Yes, there’s a tournament by Rafa’s name and it’s organised by his team) and won the title (Tomic and Nadal were doubles partners at last year’s Indian Wells doubles draw). It’ll be interesting to see what Rafa thinks about this win.

A loss at another challenger along with a first-round loss at Moselle after playing the qualies meant that Tomic climbed a few places in the rankings. Most of this will now happen due to his quarterfinal showing at Chengdu.

His Chengdu campaign so far

Almost all his matches have gone the distance, with his match against Llyod Harris going to 8-6 in the deciding tiebreaker. Tomic also had to play the qualifiers to make the main draw of the tournament, which means that Tomic has already played 4 matches so far.

He will face Canadian stalwart Felix Auger Aliassime in the quarterfinals. The lucky loser of the draw, Aliassime managed to beat Hyeon Chung in 3 tight sets in his second round match. With a booming serve and powerful groundstrokes, it’ll be interesting to see how Tomic handles the Felix challenge: his smart, tactical and counterpunching style matches up very well against Aliassime’s, so there’s a good chance that Tomic will clinch the victory.

What’s to come next

Tomic is famed for his attitude issues and his falling out with…everyone. His change in heart after counting his millions at the player’s bench at the Australian Open qualifying is evident: he did well at a clay challenger in may (his worst surface) and made the semifinals at s-Hertogenbosch (grass).

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With a top 100 ranking within arms reach, Tomic is very likely to directly qualify for the 2019 Australian Open. If he concentrates on his tennis and plays seriously (and well), there’s nothing that will stop him from (perhaps) breaking the top 30 again.

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