Often maligned Australian tennis star Bernard Tomic is set to finish 2014 as Australia’s top ranked men’s singles player despite an otherwise forgettable campaign.
An impressive past week, featuring wins over Kevin Anderson and Fernando Verdasco, saw Tomic reach the semi-finals of the Stockholm Open where he fell 6-3 7-5 to second seed Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
But the late-season run has propelled the 22-year-old a whopping 20 spots up the men’s rankings to world No.56 and is a chance to climb even higher with a precious few tournaments remaining on the calendar.
Boosted by extra points courtesy of last year’s late-season slump, Tomic now finds himself hot on the heels of Aussie favourites Lleyton Hewitt and Nick Kyrgios, four spots behind the former and just two behind teenager Kyrgios. Both players have already called an end to their seasons following exhausting schedules.
Tomic kicked off 2014 well until suffering a loss to Juan Martin Del Potro in the final of the Sydney International. Hip surgery followed a first round Australian Open exit, sinking the youngster to No.124 in the world.
He bounced back with his lone 2014 title at Columbia’s Claro Open in July, but managed just two grand slam wins and no other third round appearances until last weekend’s run at the Swedish Open.
Tomic had a chance to extend his return to form, but was unable to clinch a couple of decisive moments in the one-hour and 19-minute loss to Dimitrov, giving up a 4-1 second set lead and double faulting at 5-3 as he served for the set.
He will return to the Sydney International in January in search of a second title at the event, along with fellow Australian stars Kyrgios and Sam Stosur.
In other news, Stosur has qualified for the WTA Tournament of Champions in Sofia, nabbing the eighth and final spot after her recent title victory at the Japan Open.
Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images
