Rejuvenated veteran Bernard Tomic has posted his biggest result in seven years with a win over dual-grand slam semi-finalist Karen Khachanov at an ATP event in Mexico.
The former world No.17 will play in his first tour level quarterfinal since a loss to Alex de Minaur in Atlanta in 2019 after posting a 6-2 6-4 victory over the No.4 seed in the event in Los Cabos.
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It is a significant win for the Gold Coast native, who has made steady inroads back towards the top 100 over the past two years while playing in lower-tier tournaments on the ATP Challenger and World Tennis circuits.
He trailed the world No.26, who has been ranked as high as eight, a break in the second set but reeled off the last four games.
Tomic has also made the most of some good fortune, for after forfeiting a second round qualifying match citing illness, he was able to receive a spot in the main draw as a lucky loser and subsequently thrashed Juan Alejandro Hernandez.
A Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2011, the Queenslander was last ranked inside the top 100 preceding the US Open in 2019 but struggled in the years after with injury and motivation problems, which followed several seasons of courting controversy.
The 33-year-old, who has four ATP Tour titles to his name and reached the last 16 of the Australian Open three times, recently won a Challenger event in the United States in his most significant success since clinching a title in Chengdu in 2018.
That, he said, provided a spur at a time where he had “hit a brick wall” as he battled the relatively grim reality that comes with grinding away on the lower-tier tours in far-flung cities around the world.
“I said this was going to be my last year, so I guess I have to reassess a few things now. Now that I won, I’m going to have to go back to the table. I’m probably going to play another 20 years,” he quipped on court in Lincoln after the success.
Tomic infamously boasted of his millions after an appearance in an Australian Open qualifying draw years ago but more recently has been competing for small purses, with his triumph in Lincoln earning him A$24,550.
He will pocket almost A$40,000 for reaching the quarter-finals in Mexico in a season where he has won A$263,000 and will jump to a live ranking of 159, which is the highest he has been since just after the US Open seven years ago.
The right-hander faces the winner of a clash between former Wimbledon semi-finalist Cam Norrie and Aussie veteran James Duckworth, who is currently the second-ranked man in the nation behind de Minaur, the world No.5.