Bernard Tomic won his first competitive outing of the season on Tuesday, beating American Jack Sock in a pre-Australian Open tune-up that will also see him take on fellow livewire Australian Nick Kyrgios.
In the opening match of the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, 83rd-ranked Tomic – who bounced back after on-and-off court issues to win his first ATP title since 2015 at Chengdu in September – overcame Sock in three tight sets.
After beating Sock 5-7, 6-4, 10-6, Tomic is looking ahead to his clash on Wednesday against Kyrgios, who has also been struggling with form and motivation. The pair have never played on the ATP Tour.
“Nick and I have played many many times in practice, we’re good friends. This will be our last opportunity to practise because in five days it’s the Australian Open,” Tomic said after putting in what he termed a decent performance against the 106th-ranked Sock. Read more