Two hours and fifty minutes into his semi-final clash at the Claro Open in Bogota, Bernard Tomic put away a backhand volley, won the match and collapsed to the ground in relief. What has been called a gross overreaction by some is the cumulative effect of the toughest year in the young Aussie’s career, and a positive sign for the future. Tomic is back, and fingers crossed this time it’s for good. The oft-maligned Australian has reached the Final in Bogota, and as a result makes a swift return to the top 100.

Expectation is one of the hardest things to deal with as a tennis player, particularly when you are young, and that is something Tomic has carried throughout his career. Australian tennis fans have long been searching for the successor to Lleyton Hewitt, and for Tomic, who won his first match at Melbourne Park when just 16 years old, there has always been a lot of pressure to show results. There have been the highs: a Wimbledon QF at age 18, an Australian Open fourth round appearance in 2012, and a maiden ATP title in 2013; but there have also been many lows: multiple traffic offences, the constant controversy provided by his father, and multiple tanking accusations.

This year has been particularly challenging. After reaching the Final in Sydney to begin 2014, Tomic was forced to retire one set into his Australian Open campaign against Rafael Nadal. The home crowd wasn’t sympathetic, booing a player who, just 12 months earlier, received a standing ovation for his two sets to love down comeback against Fernando Verdasco at the same stage of the tournament. Double hip surgery was the diagnosis, and Tomic wouldn’t compete for 10 weeks. His return was somewhat poor: a 6-0 6-1 loss to Jarkko Nieminen. The match took just 28 minutes and 20 seconds, becoming the shortest recorded professional match in the Open Era. Naturally, this did nothing to help Tomic’s image, however as compatriot Lleyton Hewitt said, coming back from hip surgery is never easy – one thing a majority of the public seemed to have forgotten.

Tomic entered Wimbledon with fourth round points to defend, and a second round match with Tomas Berdych played foil to that. Bernie displayed the craftiness and variety that make him such a dangerous player – particularly on grass – however he wasn’t able to capitalise on a set lead, falling in four, and as a result, dropped out of the top 100. The situation was compounded by the success of 19 year-old Aussie, Nick Kyrgios, who stunned the tennis world with his quarter-final run and win over Rafael Nadal. The crown as the future of Australian tennis, which Tomic had lugged around for years, had suddenly been taken off him, and as a “bad boy”, he was quickly thrown by the wayside.

Now ranked in triple figures, largely despised by the country he called home, Tomic had really hit rock bottom. To add insult to injury, IMG, his management group, dumped him just a few days ago. A trip to Bogota, Colombia, a wildcard into the main draw - that was Tomic’s remedy.

This Tomic looked like a new model, a more focused and interested one. He knocked off Dustov, Falla and Pospisil in straight sets to reach the semis and a clash with Dominican, Victor Estrella Burgos. Amazingly, Burgos had only won 5 ATP matches in his career to this point, and was competing in his first semi. The altitude of Bogota made for tricky conditions, and the match was gruelling. Three tiebreaks, almost three hours of tennis, and just two service breaks apiece. The Australian was riding an emotional wave out there, suffering leg cramps in the third set and fervently crossing himself after cracking a forward winner in the deciding tiebreak. Upon victory, his legs could not hold him any longer, and the crowd stood for him. The combatants embraced fiercely, brought together by the intensity of the match. It was obvious how much the victory meant to Tomic, after all he has been through the past year.

For all his shortcomings mentally, Bernard Tomic is still just 21 years of age. He is immensely talented, and when switched on, has proven he can match it with the current leaders of the game. Perhaps Kyrgios’ newfound stardom will give Tomic the chance to step out of the spotlight and focus on winning. He will be back in the top 100 again come Monday, and the steely resolve he needs to succeed has developed significantly this week in Bogota.

Win or lose tonight against Ivo Karlovic, Bernard Tomic has had a potentially career-changing week in Bogota, one that will hopefully reboot his ascension into the upper echelons of men’s tennis.

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