- Star hasn’t had a win in the main draw since 2016
Aussie tennis bad boy Bernard Tomic has enjoyed a successful start in his quest to qualify for the French Open.
The 33-year-old hasn’t taken part in the event’s main draw since 2019 but is now just a few wins away from returning to centre stage in Paris.
Tomic’s Roland Garros qualifying appearance comes just weeks after it was revealed he had become a father for the first time, to baby girl Astara Aurelia.
He is known for his polarising behaviour after being slammed for his lack of effort in some matches, temper tantrums on the court and feud with Aussie legend Lleyton Hewitt.
However, Tomic stood tall as Australian hopefuls suffered a sorry start on the opening day of French Open qualifying, with four of the five Aussies beaten.
It looked like being a complete wipeout when Tomic, the last of the quintet in action at Roland Garros, lost Monday’s first set to seeded Tunisian veteran Moez Echargui.
Bernard Tomic (pictured with partner Keely Hannah) is on the brink of qualifying for the French Open main draw
Tomic became a father to baby girl Astara Aurelia (pictured) recently
The 33-year-old is pictured playing at the 2016 French Open. He hasn’t played in the event’s main draw since then
Tomic (pictured) lost to Borna Coric in round two of the 2016 event
But the 33-year-old, who has been trying to roll back the years, came back in style to win 3-6 7-5 6-3 in two pulsating hours.
A decade after he reached a career-high of 18 in the world, Tomic is now rarely seen at grand slams, last competing in a main-draw match at the 2021 Australian Open.
His last victory in the main draw at Roland Garros was in 2016 – but he is now just two wins away from re-appearing in the main draw of one of the four majors.
His first opponent will be Italian teen Federico Cina, ranked 216.
If Tomic was to claim victory against him, he will face the winner of Canadian Alexis Galarneau’s match with Brazilian Pedro Boscardin Dias.
The losses came thick and fast for some of the best players from Down Under on Monday, Australian time.
Dane Sweeny and Alex Bolt, seeded 23 and 28 respectively, suffered surprise defeats.
Sweeney went down to Britain’s Jay Clarke 6-2 6-2, while Alex Bolt was thrashed by Austrian Lukas Neumayer 6-0 6-1.
Christopher O’Connell was beaten 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-4 by Argentine Facundo Diaz Acosta, who has a similar ranking.
In the women’s event Taylah Preston, seeded 19, lost 7-5 6-3 to Japan’s Mai Hontana.
Six more Australians will join the fray on Tuesday (local time): seeds Tristan Schoolkate (15), Priscilla Hon (23) and Maddison Inglis (31), James McCabe, and, in an all-Australian tie, Storm Hunter plays 17-year-old wildcard Tahlia Kokkinis from Sydney.
Eleven Australians have already earned a main draw place through their ranking with Adam Walton and Emerson Jones joining them via wildcards.
Some of those are warming up elsewhere in Europe and had mixed fortunes.
