Seven Years in the Wilderness: Bernard Tomic Is Back at a Masters 1000

It’s not yet a full resurgence, but 33-year-old Bernard Tomic is back into the main draw of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the first time in seven years. After a pair of wins in Shanghai over Terence Atmane and Timofey Skatov, Tomic takes on Matteo Arnaldi in first round action, Taylor Fritz would await in the second round.

Bernard Tomic’s Journey from Prodigy to Crash Out..and Back?

Bernard Tomic was one of the most recognized tennis prodigies that the sport has produced. The young Australian surged into the Wimbledon quarterfinals at age 18, after being junior Australian Open champion at just 15. With a knack for playing tricky shots on fast surfaces, a player with a ‘whippy’ junkballer’s game of disguise, moonballs, and flat forehands. A player who at times looked far too relaxed even as he was hitting winners and beating some very good players.

Tomic notched a win over Novak Djokovic at the Hopman Cup in his youth era, and won four ATP titles, peaking at #17 in 2016. He even made the quarterfinals in Shanghai.

Tomic was a great player, though never elite, and then there was the lack of effort. Bernard Tomic made tanking into an Olympic sport, if he didn’t want to be there on court that day, or didn’t believe he could win, he played like he was running up a tab by the hour. At the 2012 US Open he lost the third set to Andy Roddick in 21 minutes. In 2016 in Madrid he made no effort to return Fabio Fognini’s serve, holding his racquet backwards and told a reporter “would you care if you were 23 and worth over 10 million?”

In 2017 at prestigious Wimbledon, where he had showcased his talent? A first round defeat where he said he was “bored” on court against Mischa Zverev. Two years later he would repeat the feat, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round of Wimbledon once more.

Then there was most infamous of the list, 2014 Miami, on a side court at a Masters 1000, playing veteran Finnish player Jarkko Nieminen, a known grinder who let grit make up for what talent couldn’t, Tomic lost the first round match in 28 minutes, the shortest in history, then blamed ATP Masters being mandatory for ranked players for his poor performance.

Tomic’s tanking was complicated by his struggles with fitness and health, and those weren’t entirely self inflicted, he needed a double hip surgery and never had the foot speed or movement of the ATP’s best. Still he managed 9 career wins against top 10 opponents, and could make matches interesting when he was engaged.

Seven Years in the Wilderness

Once his body lost a step, the lack of mental fitness took its toll, Tomic’s ranking slipped, he disappeared from ATP relevance in the midst of the chaos of the COVID pandemic on global sport. Tomic’s attitude remained one of immaturity when he was still capable of playing great tennis, “counting his millions” he said, along with incidents with fast cars, wild parties, and roller-coaster relationships with women that were played out in the tabloids and social media. Australian media labeling him “the bad boy of Australian tennis”.

Tomic had used professional tennis as excuse to be a playboy, rejected the mentorship of the likes of Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt from Tennis Australia, and then it was all gone. In 2019 he played his final masters main draw in Canada, by 2022 his ranking was #825, and he suffered from wrist pain and abdominal ailment. From 2023 into 2025 Tomic wasn’t even regularly competitive on the ATP Challenger Tour, but then the playboy showed self improvement and maturity.

Speaking to the Changeover Podcast Tomic said “Tennis has been a part of my life since I was seven… It’s the only thing I excel at, having dedicated nearly thirty years to it… I’m pushing myself to reclaim that greatness one last time — so I can retire feeling fulfilled and free of guilt.”

The ATP Challenger Tour became his launching pad, in 2024 he lost to Learner Tien in the Fairfield final, in 2025 he lost to Zachary Svajda in Lexington, that same year, he had to withdraw due to US Open qualifying, and handed Arthur Fery the title in Barranquilla. Then came the Lincoln Challenger this July, winning a third set tiebreak over Mark Lajal to win a trophy once again, while also becoming a father for the first time in 2026.

His match record still reads like a relative journeyman, but he’s building something. A quarterfinalist as a lucky loser in Los Cabos, where he beat Karen Khachanov, and a September semifinal in a Challenger in Guangzhou.

It would still be a surprise to see Tomic win another ATP title, but he’s doing something just as notable, reclaiming his dignity, and showing it’s never too late to embrace the opportunities you have, all while admitting to L’Equipe “I’ll never get back to my prime like when I was in the top 20.”

The Last Word

ATP Tour Net 2026 — Aug 3, 2026; Montreal, QC], Canada; ATP Tour logo on a net during first round play at IGA Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

2026 isn’t a redemption arc for Bernard Tomic— it’s a 33-year-old discovering discipline for the first time and finding out what his game looks like with it. With three years of grinding under his belt, Tomic still has one of the most interesting playstyles in men’s tennis, and a unique kind of experience that can be an example to younger players. He’s one of the most interesting storylines at ATP Shanghai this week, having slowly repaired his relationship with tennis.

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