{"id":486970,"date":"2026-01-12T20:41:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T21:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=486970"},"modified":"2026-01-12T22:19:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T22:19:51","slug":"tomic-reveals-really-tough-reason-for-sad-downfall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=486970","title":{"rendered":"Tomic reveals &#039;really tough&#039; reason for sad downfall"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/person\/bernard-tomic-25g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Bernard Tomic\">Bernard Tomic<\/a> admits he had to step away from tennis to regain his passion for it, as he looks to make a bold comeback to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/sport\/tennis\/australian-open\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Australian Open\">Australian Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The 33-year-old has moved a step closer to a spot in the Open main draw after an entertaining straight-sets win on Monday evening.\ufeff <\/p>\n<p>The controversial Aussie star proved too strong for Hugo Dellien, taking out the first-round match 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the next stage of qualifying.\ufeff<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/sport\/cricket\/news-2026-alyssa-healy-retirement-australia-willow-talk-podcast-20260113-p5ntj9.html\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Aussie captain Healy announces retirement from cricket\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Aussie captain Healy announces retirement from cricket\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/sport\/tennis\/adelaide-international-2026-thanasi-kokkinakis-injury-sebastian-korda-result-video-highlights-20260112-p5ntiv.html\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Kokkinakis pulls off huge comeback win on injury return\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Kokkinakis pulls off huge comeback win on injury return<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/sport\/golf\/news-2026-brooks-koepka-pga-tour-return-cameron-smith-aussie-liv-financial-penalty-rules-20260113-p5ntjx.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"PGA Tour&#x27;s stunning $75m move opens door for Smith return\"><strong>PGA Tour&#x27;s stunning $75m move opens door for Smith return<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now just two wins away from qualifying for the Australian Open for the first time since 2021, a now veteran Tomic spoke candidly about his need for a fresh start, saying he &quot;sort of left the sport a bit mentally&quot;.\ufeff<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I needed to (leave tennis),&quot; he told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;The sport was really tough for me, and I was not the best person to cope with it mentally.<\/p>\n<p><img data-video-id=\"6387592240112\" src=\"https:\/\/vms-network-images-prod.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/2026\/01\/745629\/pickerimage.jpg\" alt=\"Tomic asks for banana after epic rally\" data-vms-id=\"ref:cmkask4zs00020hldr5l7pe49\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&quot;So I figured out a way to just like, you know what \u2026 I wanted to see if I can challenge myself and get back to the top 100 from 900 (ranking) at that stage. It&#x27;s still going to be tough. Let&#x27;s see if I can do it, huh? That&#x27;s my goal.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Tomic is now ranked No.187 on the ATP circuit.\ufeff<\/p>\n<p>Tomic got the modest crowd in Melbourne fired up early with a couple of big aces in a row from his opening service game against the little-known Bolivian.<\/p>\n<p>He forced Dellien into a tricky first service game of his own, taking the advantage twice but failing to earn a break due to some unforced errors.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Watch the Adelaide International and Australian Open qualifying\ufeff live and free on<\/strong><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/stream.9now.com.au\/NjedMmjYQZb\"><em><strong>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><em><strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>But with the ball was on his racquet, Tomic looked a class above and produced some quality tennis, including a stunning rally where it looked like Dellien was going to steal it.<\/p>\n<p>Tomic added that his other goal is to qualify for another grand slam, after spending most of 2025 in the Challenger circuit. \ufeff<\/p>\n<p>&quot;To\ufeff have a bit of a run at a grand slam now. Maybe at Wimbledon or here,&quot; he said.<\/p>\n<p><img data-id=\"582c2276-82fc-45c4-b21e-8493f7afec1e\" src=\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/582c2276-82fc-45c4-b21e-8493f7afec1e-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Bernard Tomic of Australia reacts during his Men&#x27;s Qualifying Singles match.\" data-width=\"3432\" data-height=\"1931\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I know I&#x27;m still good enough to compete with these top guys. But it&#x27;s just a matter of surface conditions. Everything has to lay out for me at this time, at this age \u2026 I&#x27;m having fun.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;So let&#x27;s see if I can win a couple more matches here, huh?&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>Known for his colourful personality and boisterous nature, the \ufeffformer Wimbledon quarter finalist was back in full flight on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>After taking the 2-1 lead in the first set over Dellien, Tomic then sat courtside and asked if he could eat a banana, to which an official said he would go and get some.<\/p>\n<p>\ufeffChants from one eager spectator of &quot;here we go Bernie&quot; were heard beaming across the 1573 Arena in the early stages as Tomic looked to build some momentum.<\/p>\n<p>The encouragement from the crowd clearly made a difference as Tomic broke his opponent&#x27;s serve and ended up cruising to a first-set lead.\ufeff<\/p>\n<p>Tomic&#x27;s work at the net was holding \ufeffhim in good stead, hitting multiple volley winners.<\/p>\n<p>At one stage, Tomic took his shirt off and swapped to a new piece of apparel as the chair umpire gave him the hurry-up, calling &quot;time&quot; while the Aussie was still changing.<\/p>\n<p><img data-id=\"b116b775-59a5-4af5-bc6d-64481e6dbe46\" src=\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/b116b775-59a5-4af5-bc6d-64481e6dbe46\" alt=\"\" data-width=\"1185\" data-height=\"667\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Both players held serve early in the second set but once again it was Tomic who made the breakthrough, getting the fans in Melbourne to rumble behind him.<\/p>\n<p>As both players walked off for a quick breather, Dellien was then spotted smashing his racquet in frustration as the match began to slip away from him. \ufeff<\/p>\n<p>With the second set still in the balance, young kids were heard screaming &quot;Aussie, Aussie, Aussie&quot; as they rallied behind the local hope, before another fan led a chant.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Tomic fans in the stands, if you hear me clap your hands,&quot; he yelled.\ufeff<\/p>\n<p>The former world No.17 closed out the set and the match with ease with Dellien on serve and will now continue surging towards the main draw at Melbourne Park.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Bernard Tomic admits he had to step away from tennis to regain his passion for it, as he looks to make a bold comeback to <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=486970\" title=\"Tomic reveals &#039;really tough&#039; reason for sad downfall\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":486972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486970"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=486970"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":486976,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486970\/revisions\/486976"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/486972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=486970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=486970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=486970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}