Bernard Tomic enjoyed one of his best tennis weeks of the last couple of years and Nick Kyrgios is seemingly happy for his fellow compatriot.
Last week, Tomic competed at the Lexington Challenger, where he made the final before heartbreakingly picking up a 6-2 3-6 2-6 loss to Zachary Svajda. However, before blowing a one-set lead in the final, the former world No. 17 delivered some heroics in the semifinal as he mounted a big comeback from a 1-4 deficit to beat No. 2 seed Eliot Spizzirri 6-3 2-6 7-6 (3) in the semifinal.
"Brought a smile to my face," Kyrgios wrote on X when reacting to the 32-year-old's Lexington semifinal comeback.
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Tomic gets his best ranking in years
Tomic, who entered Lexington ranked at No. 211 in the world, is guaranteed to improve at least 27 spots on the updated ATP rankings list and sit at No. 184 - note, since the Toronto Masters is still ongoing, the rankings list didn't get updated this Monday. When the Australian returns to the top-185 in the world, it will be his best ranking since 2020 January - when he was ranked at No. 182 in the world.
Earlier this year, Tomic - who has been grinding across the Challenger and ITF Tours over the past couple of years - shared earlier this year that returning to the top-100 would make him feel content and that he would be able to retire guilt-free.
But when you look at this whole picture, now that Im 32, its a purpose. It still gives me something to do. Without tennis, I dont know what I would do. Im sitting about 200 in the world, or whatever, and my goal is to be top 100 and and then I can retire. Its more of a statement, that sort of thing, so lets see if I can do it," the four-time ATP champion said earlier this year.
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Meanwhile, Tomic could get some additional points before the ATP updates its ranking since he is also playing at this week's Chicago Challenger. The Australian meets Stefan Dostanic in the first round.
