Bernard Tomic is an ATP champion once again.
The Australian player defeated Mark Lajal 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 on Sunday to claim the Lincoln Challenger title for the first time.
The triumph represented Tomic’s first title at the ATP level since winning the 2018 Manacor Open in Spain.
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Tomic was once labelled as one of the most exciting young talents on the Tour; particularly after reaching the 2011 Wimbledon quarter-finals at 18 years old.
However, the Australian has faded into obscurity in recent years.
Bernard Tomic says he will reconsider retiring from tennis after winning the Lincoln Challenger
“I’ll be as honest as I can. About 10 days ago, I hit a bit of a brick wall – maybe two weeks ago,” Tomic admitted during his post-match speech on Sunday.
“I said this is going to be my last year, so I guess I have to reassess a few things now.
“Wasn’t easy start of the year, missed a couple months. I had a beautiful daughter and was at 160, 170 in the world.
“So I needed a couple months to gain some points and now I’m defending a bit of points.
“So the last couple weeks here I sat down and said s***, I think this is going to be my last year, and now that I’ve won, I’m going to have to go back to the table board.
“Probably going to play another 20 years,” the Australian then joked.
The 33-year-old has risen 37 places in the ATP rankings following his triumph at the American ATP Challenger event.
He has also now won eight titles at the ATP level – including four ATP Tour-level titles in Sydney, Colombia [twice], and Chengdu.
Tomic is yet to play in the main draw of an ATP Tour event this year.
The Australian has competed in the qualifying rounds of three ATP Tour events: the Australian Open, Dallas Open, and Roland Garros.
Bernard Tomic’s run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals
Tomic, a qualifier at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, began his main-draw campaign by beating 2008 ATP Finals champion Nikolay Davydenko.
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The 18-year-old then knocked out Igor Andreev in five sets and Robin Soderling – the two-time Roland Garros finalist – in straight sets.
Tomic’s superb run continued in the fourth round, where he defeated Xavier Malisse 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
“I never thought I’d be here for the second week,” Tomic said afterwards. “What a feeling and what a tournament it’s been for me.
Tomic’s campaign came to an end in the quarter-finals with defeat to second seed and eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
“I’m delighted to be through, it’s a great result,” Djokovic told BBC Sport after winning 6-2 3-6 6-3 7-5. “In the first set I played well but one bad service game in the second let him in and then he was the better player.
“I had some very difficult service games but I managed to hold on and win the match. He’s such an unpredictable player – very young and hitting a lot of winners.
“He did not make a lot of errors from the baseline and that made my life very difficult. I tried to change the pace but he was better at that, so it was cat and mouse. I’m just pleased to get through.”
“When you do a result like this it tells you you’re only a few matches away from winning a title,” Tomic said. “I know what my goals are now.
“I don’t move as good as Novak. I’d love to improve my returns and return like him. Obviously that would put pressure on the opponent more in the future.
“I definitely think I have the game, and if I get the mental state, to win a major in the next hopefully two years.”
