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Tomic reaches Chengdu Final, breaks top 100 and faces Fognini for the title

By Keshav Gopalan

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 25: Bernard Tomic of Australia in action against Matteo Donati of Italy during the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships Qualifying at The Bank of England Sports Centre on June 25, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 25: Bernard Tomic of Australia in action against Matteo Donati of Italy during the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships Qualifying at The Bank of England Sports Centre on June 25, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images) /
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After a disastrous season in 2017, Bernard Tomic started the 2018 season on a very bad note. Crashing out of the qualifiers of the Australian Open and a series of other bad tournaments led to a slip to #243 in the rankings. Slowly, the Aussie has climbed up the rankings. Now, with a final in Chengdu(his first ATP final in over 2 years), Tomic breaks the top 100 and has a shot at victory.

His journey so far

After slumping to #243 in the world, Tomic has done really well since to make it to where he is. A challenger final, qualifying for both the French Open and Wimbledon (losing in the 1st and 2nd round, respectively) must’ve boosted his confidence immensely, not to mention his semifinal at Rosmalen.

While his hard court season up till the US Open wasn’t very good, he did win the Mallorca Open (also known as Rafa Nadal Open, yes, really) right after, inching closer to the top 100.

Chengdu campaign a fantastic success

Keep in mind that Tomic has reached the final as a qualifier. The Australian has had to play 6 matches to reach the final. Just to put things into perspective, that’s the same number of matches that one needs to win to reach the final. Grand slams have 128 players. Chengdu has 28. Pretty impressive.

This is Tomic’s first final since 2016. He’s had to battle hard to reach the final, beating an in-form Felix Auger Aliassime in the quarters and João Sousa in the semis.

Greatest ATP match up?

He will now face Fabio Fognini for the title. Fognini has had a great season himself, winning his first hard court title in Los Cabos. Both players are known for their notorious attitudes, so it’ll be interesting to see how that match goes.

Next. Yoshihito Nishioka reaches Shenzhen final: A story of endearment. dark

Tomic won against Fognini in an indoor hardcourt match in 2015, his only win. This will be their first match on outdoor hard courts.

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