Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic has opened up on his mental health struggles as he climbs back up the rankings.
Tomic, once Australia’s top ranked male player, has fallen way down the ATP rankings after losing his passion for the game.
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The former junior world number one and two-time junior grand slam champ, showed he had what it takes on the professional tour as he reached a career-high rank of number 17.
He reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and looked part of a promising duo alongside Nick Kyrgios for Aussie tennis.
Tomic however lost his passion for the game as he struggled with the mental side of it all.
“The tour is very difficult. Tennis is a very isolated sport. It is very tough mentally and you are on your own travelling,” Tomic told Sportskeeda.
“You are not playing a team sport like soccer or basketball. You are on your own. There’s a lot of travel involved and a lot of time is spent alone. You need to figure out how to feel mentally good and when to recharge the batteries.
“I also struggled for three to four years. I’ve managed to turn it around and feel better mentally. When you travel from a young age for many, many years, it really can get to you mentally.
“The sport can really drain you. You need to figure out what’s best for you mentally and always find a way to be positive and move forward. In tennis, you need to be mentally in a good state.”
The 31-year-old hasn’t been inside the top-100 rankings since back in August 2019 and fell as low as number 825 in the world.
Despite his fall from grace, Tomic believes he still has what it takes to compete with the best on the tour and says a top 50 return is possible.
“In around September 2022, I was in the 800s in the rankings. For the last year and a half, I have played pretty well to get back,” Tomic said.
“I played a lot of matches. I missed a lot of tennis for three years. I was not playing that much. And my physical fitness went down. It took me a little bit of time to get into rhythm. But now, I’m playing pretty good. But I still need to play a little bit better to get back to the top.
“I feel like I can play really well, the next couple of years, especially given my style of play. I don’t use up a lot of energy in the way I play.
“So I think the top 100 is very achievable for me. Even top 50. But still you need to stay healthy, do the right things. This next year will be interesting. As long as I stay healthy and keep practising, I think I should be okay, let’s see.”
After missing out on a wildcard spot for the Australian Open, Tomic sweated it out in Chennai, India.
He has only played in the main draw of the Australian Open twice since 2018, the last time in 2021, having played nine in a row from his debut in 2009.
He entered the ITF Chennai tournament as the number one seed and comfortably the biggest name in the field of 32 players.
Throughout the tournament the Aussie was barely troubled as he cruised to a straight sets victory in the final.
The Chennai victory saw Tomic pocket $3600 and saw him move up the rankings to number 267 in the world.