Tomic turnaround sends former bad boy to SF

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.