Bernard Tomic has claimed his biggest tour win in seven years, defeating World No. 26 Karen Khachanov to continue his late career revival.
Tomic made headlines earlier this week after defeating Alex Hernandez, in a 46-minute thrashing, dropping just one game in a 6-1 6-0 demolition — the fastest completed win over the 2026 season.
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The 33-year-old Australian has kept his strong form rolling at the Los Cabos Open, an ATP 250 tournament in Mexico.
Tomic beat Khachanov 6-2 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament, making his first quarterfinal on the ATP tour since 2018, when he beat World No. 13 Fabio Fognini.
It’s a major breakthrough for Tomic, who has been plying his trade on the ITF and Challenger circuit in recent years.
Khachanov, the fourth seed, is a former World No. 8 who sent Nick Kyrgios packing from the 2022 US Open in the quarterfinals when the Australian was in career best form and chasing a grand slam title.
Tomic’s victory over the 30-year-old Russian sees the former Aussie prodigy rise to 159th in the live world rankings.
He will play British player Cameron Norrie in the Los Cabos quarterfinals on Friday (AEST).
“I’ll be as honest as I can, about 10 days ago I hit a bit of a brick wall, maybe two weeks ago,” Tomic said after his breakthrough win.
“I said this was going to be my last year, so I guess I have to reassess a few things now. Now that I won, I’m going to have to go back to the table. I’m probably going to play another 20 years!”
It has been 10 years since Tomic reached a career-high World No. 17, and 15 years since he reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon as a teenager— his best grand slam performance.
Earlier this month, he hinted he was considering hanging up his racquet before he claimed the Lincoln Challenger — his biggest title in eight years.
Tomic’s resurgence coincides with an intriguing match-up at the Washington Open as Alex de Minaur set up a clash with Cruz Hewitt after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 3-6 6-3.
Tsitsipas, the former world number three from Greece, had won 12 of their prior 13 encounters, but de Minaur shrugged off a shaky start to turn the tables.
Minaur next faces 17-year-old qualifier Hewitt, the son of Aussie great Lleyton Hewitt who captured his first-ever ATP Tour victory earlier this week.
De Minaur joked that he won’t be offended if his country’s Davis Cup captain, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt, is rooting against him.
“I would expect him to be in his son’s box, and rightfully so,” de Minaur said.
After making the Wimbledon junior final, Cruz claimed his first win on the ATP tour with a 6-3 6-4 victory over World No.86 Marcos Giron.
– With AFP