Australian tennis player (born 1992)
Bernard Tomic (; , ; born 21 October 1992) is an Australian professional tennis player. His career-high ranking is world No. 17.
As a junior, Tomic enjoyed a successful career in which he won an Orange Bowl title and two junior Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 Australian Open and 2009 US Open.
As a professional, he has won the 2013 Sydney International, 2014 and 2015 Colombia Open, as well as the 2018 Chengdu Open. He made a final appearance at the 2016 Mexican Open and a quarterfinal appearance at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, the 2015 Indian Wells Open, the 2015 Shanghai Masters, and the 2016 Western &amp; Southern Open.
In January 2018, Tomic was revealed as a celebrity contestant on the fourth season of the Australian version of "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!" On 30 January 2018, Tomic withdrew from the competition after three days, owing to feeling uncomfortable and depressed, thus making him one of the shortest-lived contestants on the show globally.
Throughout his career, Tomic has been known for his controversial behaviour, including legal issues, altercations with officials and fans, and accusations of tanking during events.
Early and personal life.
Tomic was born in Stuttgart, Germany, on 21 October 1992. Tomic's parents, Bosnian Croat father (from Tuzla), John (Ivica) and Bosnian mother, Adisa (from Brčko), left Socialist Yugoslavia several years before his birth.
In an interview, Tomic stated that his parents "have a Croatian background". They had both been working in Germany when Tomic was born. The family migrated to Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia in 1996 when Tomic was three years old.
His younger sister Sara is also a professional tennis player. Tomic was educated at Southport State School during his primary school years before taking up a sports scholarship at The Southport School for high school. In 2018 he became vegan.
Career.
Juniors.
Before Tomic began competing on the ITF junior tour he stated that he would become the number one tennis player in the world, win all the majors and become Australia's youngest Davis Cup player. He also claimed he would achieve these goals by attaining the serve of Goran Ivanišević, the mind of Pete Sampras, the groundstrokes of Roger Federer and the heart of Lleyton Hewitt. In 2004, 2006 and 2007, respectively, Tomic won the 12s, 14s and 16s Orange Bowl titles – one of the most prestigious events on the junior tour.
Playing his first singles event on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2006, he qualified for the Sunsmart 18 and Under Canterbury Championships in New Zealand and went on to win the title at 13 years of age, defeating Oh Dae-soung of Korea in the final. His success continued in the following weeks, winning the next three tournaments he played in, giving him a 25 match winning streak. He was able to extend this streak to 26 at the Riad 21 junior tournament in Morocco, before falling in the round of 16 to future junior world number 1 and ATP top 50 player Ričardas Berankis.
Tomic gained direct acceptance into his first junior Grand Slam at the 2007 Australian Open boys tournament at 14 years of age, the youngest player to ever gain direct entry. He came out victorious in round one against the sixth seed José-Roberto Velasco. In the second round, he was defeated by Kevin Botti 6–3, 3–6, 6–3. In attendance for the match were Australian tennis greats Tony Roche, John Newcombe and Pat Rafter. In his second junior Grand Slam tournament at the 2007 French Open, he made his way through qualifying to reach the main draw where he triumphed in the first round. In the second round, he would lose to Ričardas Berankis 6–2, 6–3.
Tomic did not play in another tournament until August 2007, where he won the Oceania Closed Junior Championships without dropping a set. He was unable to continue his dominance at the Junior US Open, falling in the round of 16 to future top 15 ATP player, Jerzy Janowicz. Following the US Open, Tomic picked up a second title in 2007 by winning the G1 in Kentucky. He would then travel to Italy where he compiled an undefeated record in the Junior Davis Cup and lead Australia to victory in the final against Argentina with teammates Mark Verryth and Alex Sanders. Tomic finished 2007 with a junior world ranking of 23.
Tomic began 2008 by winning Nottinghill, an Australian ITF Junior event in Melbourne without dropping a set. Two days later he started his campaign for the Australian Open Juniors title as the fifth seed. He went on to win the event, defeating the 25th, 11th, eighth and top seed, before beating tenth seed Yang Tsung-hua of Taiwan in the final. His win at the age of 15 made him the youngest winner of the Australian Open Junior Boys' Championships in the Open Era.
Four months later, at Roland Garros, Tomic, the number one seed, fell in the quarterfinals to Guido Pella of Argentina, losing in two sets. At Wimbledon, Tomic was again the top seed, but fell in the semifinals to Henri Kontinen. In a notable quarterfinal match, he played another rising star, Henrique Cunha of Brazil, and came through victorious in three sets. He also finished runner-up in the Wimbledon boys' doubles with fellow Australian Matt Reid. At the 2008 US Open, Tomic lost in the first round of the boys' singles to qualifier Devin Britton of the United States in three sets, who would go on to lose in the final.
Tomic returned to junior competition at the 2009 French Open where he reached the round of 16 in the boys' singles tournament and a month later once again reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon. At the 2009 US Open, however, Tomic won the junior Grand Slam title, defeating Chase Buchanan of the United States. The 2009 US Open was his last junior tournament. Despite winning two junior majors Tomic's highest junior ranking was No. 2 in the world.
Junior Grand Slam performance - Singles:
Australian Open: W (2008)
French Open: QF (2008)
Wimbledon: SF (2008, 2009)
US Open: W (2009)
2008–2009: Professional debut.
At the age of 15 Tomic began competing in professional events. Tomic began 2008 at the Australian Open where he was given a place in the qualifying draw. He defeated Wang Yeu-tzuoo of Taiwan in the first round in three sets, after saving five match points but lost to Prakash Amritraj in the next round.
In August, Tomic reached the first professional final of his career at an F2 tournament in Indonesia. He defeated Kittipong Wachiramanowong, Peng Hsien-yin, Peerakiat Siriluethaiwattana and Kento Takeuchi en route to the final without dropping a set, before losing to Yūichi Sugita in three sets. In December, Tomic competed at a F12 tournament in Australia where he defeated fellow Australian James O'Brien in the first round before controversially walking off court whilst down a set and 3–1 against Marinko Matosevic in his next match. Towards the end of 2008, Tomic stated that he would no longer compete in junior tournaments and instead focus solely on senior tournaments. In March 2009, the ITF suspended Tomic from playing professional tournaments for a month.
In January 2009, Tomic was granted a wildcard into his first ATP Tour event, the Brisbane International, where he lost to Fernando Verdasco in the first round. He was also granted a wildcard into the 2009 Australian Open, drawing Potito Starace in the first round. He won the match, after saving two set points in the fourth set tiebreak and thus became the youngest ever male tennis player to win a senior Australian Open Grand Slam tournament match. In the second round, he lost to Gilles Müller in four sets. Tomic also contested the mixed doubles event with fellow 16-year-old Australian Monika Wejnert but the pair lost to the Canadian pairing of Aleksandra Wozniak and Daniel Nestor in the first round.
Tomic received wildcards into Australian Challenger tournaments in Burnie and Melbourne held in February. He reached the quarter-finals in Burnie before winning his first Challenger title in Melbourne at the age of 16. He later received a wildcard into the 2009 French Open but was easily beaten by Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round.
Following the defeat, Tomic decided to return to the junior tour to contest the Grand Slam tournaments and reached the quarterfinals of the French Open. At Wimbledon, Tomic lost in the final round of qualifying to Édouard Roger-Vasselin. He contested the junior tournament and reached the semifinals before being losing to the eventual champion, Andrey Kuznetsov. In September, Tomic won the 2009 US Open junior singles title by defeating Chase Buchanan in the final. In December 2009, Tomic lost in the final of the Australian Open Wildcard Playoff to Nick Lindahl. He finished the year as the world No. 286.
2010.
Tomic began the season by competing in the 2010 Brisbane International where he lost in the first round to qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov. He won the World Tennis Challenge for the Australasia team, defeating Gilles Simon of team Europe, Radek Štěpánek of the Internationals team and Robby Ginepri of the Americas team. At Kooyong Classic, Tomic defeated world No. 3, Novak Djokovic, in three sets. Despite losing in the wildcard playoff, Tomic was granted a main-draw wildcard for the Australian Open where he defeated Guillaume Rufin in the first round in straight sets before losing to 14th seed Marin Čilić in the second round in five sets.
In February, Tomic qualified for the Burnie Challenger tournament in Tasmania and went on to win the event by defeating Greg Jones in the final. In March, Tomic was selected to play singles for the Australian Davis Cup Team. He won both of his matches in the tie against Chinese Taipei, defeating Yang Tsung-hua and Lee Hsin-han. He then competed at the 2010 Tennis Napoli Cup as a wildcard but lost to Paolo Lorenzi in the first round in straight sets. Tomic's next tournament was the Monte-Carlo Masters where he lost in the first round to the unseeded German Benjamin Becker. He then received a wildcard to compete in the 2010 Zagreb Open but lost to Michael Yani in the first round.
Tomic was awarded a wildcard for the Queen's Club Championships where he upset 15th seed Andreas Seppi in the first round before losing to Belgian Xavier Malisse in the second round. At Wimbledon, Tomic qualified for the main draw but lost in the first round to Mardy Fish. He then entered the qualifying draw of the US Open but lost in the second round to Noam Okun. His final ATP event of the year was the Malaysian Open where he competed as a wildcard. He lost to David Ferrer in the first round. In December 2010, Tomic withdrew from the Australian Open Wildcard Playoffs. He finished the year at a career-high singles ranking of 208.
2011: Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Tomic began his 2011 season at the Brisbane International where he was given a main draw wild card but lost to Florian Mayer in the first round. At the Sydney International, Tomic lost to Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round despite taking the first set. His performance in Sydney earned him the final discretionary wildcard into the main draw of the Australian Open.
In Melbourne, Tomic matched his two prior Open performances when he defeated Jérémy Chardy in the first round. He then recorded back-to-back main draw wins for the first time in his career when he defeated the 31st seed Feliciano López. In a much anticipated night match, Tomic lost to world No. 1, Rafael Nadal, in the third round despite having led 4–0 in the second set.
In February, Tomic competed at Indian Wells where he was given a main-draw wildcard. Tomic defeated Indian qualifier Rohan Bopanna in three sets to reach the second round of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the first time. He faced 16th-seeded Serbian Viktor Troicki in the second round to whom he lost in straight sets. Tomic was granted a main-draw wildcard for Miami where he lost in the first round to Pablo Andújar. At the French Open, he lost in the first round to Carlos Berlocq, in straight sets.
At the 2011 Wimbledon Championships as a qualifier, Tomic defeated 28th seed Nikolay Davydenko, Igor Andreev, fifth seed Robin Söderling and Xavier Malisse to reach his first Grand Slam singles quarterfinal, thus becoming the youngest player since Boris Becker