Bernard Tomic showed glimpses of his talent on his way to reaching the second round of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park, albeit via the mid-match retirement of his Japanese opponent Yuichi Sugita.

After levelling the match at one set apiece, Tomic was leading 4-1 in the third when Sugita pulled out with what appeared to be an abdominal injury.

Sugita had received treatment for the injury during a medical time out in the third set, and despite playing on for two more games, he eventually signalled to the chair umpire that he could not continue.

The record books will show Tomic, who reached a career-high ranking of 17 in 2016, won 3-6, 6-1, 4-1 (ret).

Now ranked 233 in the world, Tomic had to go through qualifying in Doha last month and few observers believed he would make it out of the first round in the men’s main draw.

There were times when the variety of his shot selection against Sugita reminded those watching of the talent he displayed as an 18-year-old when he reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2011.

He employed drop shots at the right moments and used his backhand slice to great effect, although he did get too cute at one stage when an underarm serve failed to catch Sugita unaware.

Tomic last made it past the first round at the Australian Open in 2017. He reached the third round that year.

His most recent appearance at the Australian Open was in 2019 when he initiated an ugly spat with Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt.

It will be a tough assignment for Tomic in the second round, as he is set to face either Canadian 11th seed Denis Shapovalov or rising Italian star Jannik Sinner.

In the casual setting of Court Eight at Melbourne Park, Tomic’s serve was broken in the fourth game of the match against the world number 104 Sugita, forcing the Australian to play catch-up as he looked to stay in the first set.

He had a break point in the seventh game, but Sugita responded and held serve before going on to win the set in clinical fashion.

Sugita’s aggression meant Tomic had to play defensively from deep behind the baseline early in the second set, yet the local hope was able win his first two service games.

He struck a blow on the Sugita serve when he broke his opponent to establish a 3-1 lead and he secured another break to serve for the second set, making no mistake as he levelled the match.

It was clear Tomic’s confidence grew in the 26 minutes it took for him to claim the second set and he started the third brilliantly, clinching another service break with a blistering backhand return.

As Tomic took control of the match, Sugita’s frustration was becoming evident and his cause was not helped when he went down another break to trail 3-0 in the third set.

It was at this point of the match that Sugita called for the trainers and he received treatment for the abdominal issue during a lengthy medical timeout.

Tomic took the time to replenish his energy reserves with a banana, carry out some stretches and even chat to some spectators before holding serve once play resumed.

Trailing 0-4, Sugita held serve in the fifth game but soon after called it quits to hand Tomic the victory.



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