Bernard Tomic has returned to the Australian Open determined to prove he’s a changed man.
The former World No.17 experienced a fall from grace in 2018 when he bragged about “counting his millions” after a less than impressive performance in the Australian Open qualifying round.
By 2022, Tomic was ranked 835 in the world, with many believing the once promising tennis star would walk away from the game for good.
However, Tomic has since put in the hard yards on the ITF Tour and is now ranked 184. This year, he’s returned to the Australian Open, seemingly determined to prove that he’s not the controversial player he was almost a decade ago.
Here’s everything you need to know about Bernard Tomic:
Bernard Tomic’s early tennis career
In 2008, when he was just 14, Tomic hit the tennis circuit as one of the most promising players to come out of Australia in years.
He signed the most lucrative sponsorship deal of any Nike athlete his age, as well as sponsorship deals with Yonex, Optus and Qantas.
In January 2009, Tomic made his ATP Tour debut at the ATP 250 event in Brisbane.
One week later, he defeated Italian world No.73 Potito Starace in four sets as a wildcard in the opening round of the Australian Open, making him the youngest men’s player to win a match at the Australian Open.
By the end of that year, he was ranked world No.286.
In 2011, Tomic progressed to the quarter finals at Wimbledon, where he took on Novak Djokovic, becoming the youngest player to reach the quarters at the All England Club since Boris Becker in 1986.
By 2013, he had captured his first ATP 250 final after defeating Kevin Anderson in three sets in the final of the 2013 Sydney International.
Bernard Tomic experiences a series of setbacks
By 2013, Tomic’s rising star was hit hard by a series of setbacks.
Firstly, his father John Tomic was charged with assaulting Tomic’s former training partner Thomas Drouet, after a scuffle broke out in car park of the players’ hotel ahead of the Madrid Open.
Drouet sustained a broken nose, stitches to a cut above his eye and bruising to the back of his neck in the incident and would later allege that he saw John assaulting his famous son.
The next year, Tomic retired from the first round of the Australian Open after sustaining a hip injury.
Shortly after, he was dumped by his management company IMG because of his off-court behaviour.
Tomic bounces back with a series of wins
Despite his troubles, over the next couple of years Tomic was able to bounce back with a series of wins.
In 2015, he sustained 40 victories over the season and in 2016 he reached his career-high ranking of World No.17 after advancing to the semi finals at the Brisbane International.
Tomic’s quick fall from grace
In 2018, Tomic once again fell out of favour when he fell short of qualifying for the Australian Open after losing 6-1, 6-7(5-7), 6-4 to Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
In a press conference after the loss, Tomic bragged to the media that he would just be “counting his millions” when asked whether this loss represented a crossroads in his professional tennis career.
“I just count money, that’s all I do. I count my millions,” he said.
“You go make 13-14 million (dollars). Good luck guys.”
Tomic splits from his “crazy” father and coach
In 2022, Tomic opened up about the alleged treatment he received at the hands of his father and then-coach.
“I’m still scared of my dad,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2022.
“I wouldn’t want to be raising my kid the way I was raised.”
He dumped his father as his coach and instead turned to his sister for guidance.
“He’s whacked balls at me, racquets and stuff. I mean, the guy is a crazy man, for sure,” he said at the time.
“But he made me who I am today. It was discipline at 100 per cent.”
Tomic returns to the Australian Open in 2026
This year, Tomic has returned to the Australian Open.
The now 33-year-old smashed 25th seed Hugo Dellien 6-3 6-3 in just over an hour and even jovially joked with the crowd throughout the game.
In a press conference, after the match Tomic admitted he had “sort of left the sport a bit mentally”.
“I needed to (leave tennis),” he told reporters.
“The sport was really tough for me, and I was not the best person to cope with it mentally.
“So I figured out a way to just like, you know what … I wanted to see if I can challenge myself and get back to the top 100 from 900 (ranking) at that stage. It’s still going to be tough. Let’s see if I can do it, huh? That’s my goal.”
Tomic is now ranked No.187 on the ATP circuit.
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