Bernard came to Australia when he was three-and-a-half years old. His father, John, started work driving taxis while his mother, Ady, secured employment as a biomedical scientist. Throughout his early tennis development, Bernard hit with several practice partners in his home state of Queensland while his father fed balls and instructions from the sidelines. Bernard was seven when he started playing tennis and made a huge impact on the international junior circuit when he won the prestigious American tournaments, the Eddie Herr, in 2004, and three Orange Bowl events. His short-term ambition is to continue on the ITF junior circuit, win all the Grand Slam tournaments and reach the summit of men’s tennis. He would love to play Roger Federer and ‘spend time with him’. Bernard loves lobster, pizza and sweets. He has many sporting heroes including Pete Sampras, Lance Armstrong, Ian Thorpe and Michael Jordan. In music, he has a penchant for Eminem and 50 Cent.
Career:
Bernard Tomic is quickly establishing himself as the next great player in the world of tennis. Recognised as one of Australia’s rising stars, he has built an impressive resume whilst playing on the junior circuit. He is the highest ranked 15 year old tennis player in the world, and finished 2007 ranked 12th in the overall ITF junior rankings.
In 2004, Tomic won the prestigious Orange Bowl Junior tournament under-12 championship, in 2006 he took the 14/u title, and in 2007 he captured the 16/u title, showing a level of consistency very rarely found in players his age.
Bernard defeated the No. 4 seed to reach the third round of the US Open Boys’ Singles in 2007 and played a key role in helping Australia win the Junior Davis Cup final against Argentina. Aged 16, he achieved a career-high ITF ranking of 19 after winning the ITF Kentucky International Junior Tennis Derby in September.
In January 2008, at age 15, Bernard became the youngest player ever to win a Grand Slam Junior title with victory in the Australian Open Boys’ Singles Championship.
In 2009, Bernard made his ATP debut at the Brisbane International and his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open. He became the youngest player in the Open era to win a main draw match at the Australian Open with a first round victory over Italian Potito Starace. He also won his first Challenger title at Maccabi and his second Grand Slam Junior title at the US Open Junior Championships.
Bernard repeated his main draw heroics at Australian Open 2010, beating Frenchman Guillaume Rufin in the first round and pushing world No.10 Marin Cilic to five sets in the second round. In February, he won his second Challenger title at the McDonalds Burnie International in Tasmania.
On the back of achieving a career-high ATP ranking of 209, Tomic was picked to make his Davis Cup debut for Australia in their Asia Oceania Zone Group 11 tie against Chinese Taipei in Melbourne. The teenager won both his singles matches, helping Australia to a 5-0 clean sweep at Margaret Court Arena.
