Bernard Tomic’s Atlanta Open run is over, after retiring 39 minutes into his match with fellow Australian Alex de Minaur.
While comparisons will be drawn to Tomic’s widely-publicised 6-2 6-1 6-4 first round capitulation to Jo-Wilfed Tsonga at Wimbledon, which saw Tomic be stripped of his pay for the tournament for such a tepid performance, the world no. 106 claims a hand injury was too much to overcome.
De Minaur held a commanding 6-2, 3-0 lead against Tomic, winning 21 of 22 first serves and breaking Tomic three times.
NOT ME: Bernard Tomic denies 'tanking' in 58-minute Wimbledon loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Before retiring, Tomic appeared to have hit a rare vein of form, jagging his first win against a top-50 opponent in the first round of the Atlanta Open with a come from behind 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4) win over Frances Tiafoe.
From there, Tomic served 12 aces en route to a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) win over fellow Australian Matthew Ebden.
"It's not ideal obviously for him, but I'll take this any day of the week. I got here to come, play some good tennis, and ended up with the win," De Minaur told the ATP website.
We have our first #AtlantaOpen semifinalist! @alexdeminaur 🇦🇺 takes the first win today at 6-2, 3-0 after B. Tomic 🇦🇺 retires. #USOpenSeries @ATP_Tour pic.twitter.com/QpoI0UMmBn
— BB&T Atlanta Open (@BBTatlantaopen) July 26, 2019
De Minaur now advances to his first semi final since he won the Sydney International to face Reilly Opelka.
