Seven years after his last ATP quarter-final, Australia’s definitive journeyman Bernard Tomic is back in the final eight on the Tour thanks to a breakthrough performance in Mexico.

The 33-year-old who a tennis generation ago was tipped as a fast-rising hope, hit the skids for more than half a decade hanging onto a skimpy career in the Challengers and Futures circuit.

The Australian whose father John wrote a new template for aggressive tennis parent two decades ago has managed to overcome his prolonged relegation to the lower reaches and is showing what he can do this week in Los Cabos.

Tomic, an old-school ATP villain when Nick Kyrgios was still in kindergarten, has shot back into prominence with his performance on the hardcourt, reaching the quarters over Karen Khachanov 6-2, 6-4.

He last got this far on the Tour at Atlanta, 2019, losing to up-and-coming compatriot Alex de Minaur with a second-set retirement. Taking out No 26 Khachanov was the best ranking win for Tomic since defeating 13th-ranked Fabio Fognini in 2018.

Tomic will bid for a rare semi-final on Friday, taking on Briton Cam Norrie, whose season has recently been plagued by injury; he last played in a semi at Chengdu in 2018.

Carlos Alcaraz extended his current clay win streak to seven straight on Thursday, hammering Serb Laslo Djere 6-2, 6-4 in a show of force at his home ATP event in Barcelona.

Last weekend’s Monte Carlo champion fought back from 4-2 down in the second set to keep his fans happy at the Rafael Nadal court at the Real Club.

Alcaraz swept the final four games to advance comfortably in 71 minutes

The world No. 2 moved into a serious challenge against on-form Aussie fifth seed Alex de Minaur, who has yet to top the Spaniard in three previous meetings.

De Minaur booked his spot in the last eight 6-1, 6-2 over British qualifying lucky loser Jacob Fearnley.

Alcaraz now stands a formidable 27-1 on Spanish clay courts since the start of 2022. He has yet to lose in Barcelona, standing a flawless 12-0 with titles in 2022 and 2023.

(“Winning in) straight sets (helps to) save energy for the matches that I have coming forward,” the 21-year-old said..

“I played great tennis, even better than the first round, even though I had to come back. I was really happy to find a great level again and hopefully keep going.”

Elsewhere in the Catalan capital, Monte Carlo, 30th-ranked Monte Carlo semi-finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina stopped the rot after five defeats against Andrey Rublev, upsetting the ATP No. 8 with a 7-5, 6-4 to scoreline.

The Spaniard now plays Karen Khachanov, posted a 7-5, 6-4 victory over local Jaume Munar, as he duplicated a 2017 quarter-final here.

Andy Murray on Saturday pulled the plug on his participation in next week’s Davis Cup Finals in Spain, citing a fresh injury.

The 36-year-old Scot who led Britain to the 2015 title in the former classic iteration of the worldwide team competition announced that his current season is now over.

“I’ve picked up a minor shoulder injury which means I won’t be able to take part in the Davis Cup,” the three-time Grand Slam winner said.

“I’m gutted not to be part of the team but my focus now is on rehab.”

Murray last competed in Davis in September, winning his only match of the season in the competition in a Manchester tie against Switzerland.

Main photo:- Davis Cup Final Belgium v Great Britain 2015 Andy Murray and Jamie Murray win 3rd rubber Anne Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd