Bernard Tomic’s Australian Open comeback bid ends in disaster – and Lleyton Hewitt’s son also struggles

Bernard Tomic’s bid to return to the Grand Slam circuit saw him knocked off the court after an embarrassing straight-sets loss at Melbourne’s Kia Arena on Tuesday.

The former world number 17 needed to win three matches in a row to qualify for the Australian Open, but fell at the first hurdle, falling 6-3, 6-1 to 128th-ranked Slovak Jozef Kovalik of the world state.

Tomic’s heavy defeat comes after he also suffered a horror loss as he contested his first tournament final in six years, losing 6-0, 6-1 in just 39 minutes to American Learner Tien at the Fairfield Challenger in San Francisco last October.

That loss set a world record for the fastest defeat in an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger event.

Tomic – who is currently ranked 214th in the world – last played in his home Grand Slam in 2021 and has never advanced beyond the fourth round in his eleven appearances at the tournament.

Last year, Tomic earned $101,170 playing in Challenger and Future events in Wichita, Little Rock and Calabasas, among others.

The polarizing Australian was wiped off the field in just 61 minutes as he lost in a straight sets to Slovakian Jozef Kovalik

The news was no better for Cruz Hewitt (pictured), who also went out in straight sets, but unlike Tomic, the 16-year-old will get many more opportunities to play his home Grand Slam.

The 32-year-old would have more than doubled that in one week had he qualified for the Open and earned at least $132,000 for even first-round losses.

Cruz Hewitt’s hopes of reaching the main draw of the Australian Open suffered a huge blow at Melbourne Park on Tuesday after the 16-year-old prodigy was defeated in straight sets by former world number 16 Nikoloz Basilashvili.

It was a momentous day for the Hewitt family as Cruz entered Court 3 at Melbourne Park, almost 30 years after his father qualified for his first Australian Open.

It came as attention was diverted from the star’s much-anticipated qualifying debut for the Australian Open this week, after Nick Kyrgios published a social media post that appeared to criticize Hewitt’s decision to share a practice hit with Jannik Sinner.

The Italian has drawn the ire of Kyrgios in recent months after failing two tests for a banned substance but avoiding a ban, but the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is set to appeal next year against the decision.

Hewitt shared photos on Instagram of Sinner and himself preparing for the tournament this week.

But Kyrgios quickly commented on the photos, writing: “I love Cruz but this is wild.” He later added: “Cooked post” before appearing to play down the incident and claiming his comments were a joke between two friends.

Hewitt gave his fans plenty of reasons to expect him to one day face the sport’s biggest stars in Melbourne, despite his defeat on Tuesday

On Tuesday, Hewitt quashed any doubts about his abilities or claims of favoritism despite suffering a two-set defeat. Some have wondered whether last year’s Newcombe medalist was given a qualifying place due to his father’s status in the sport.

He had previously addressed these claims of favoritism, saying: “It is what it is, but I don’t mind that so much. It just drives me to be better.”

And Hewitt has seemingly put many of those claims aside, demonstrating his accuracy, booming serve and tennis intelligence throughout the match to ask questions of an opponent who has far more experience playing at the highest level than he does.

In front of a packed arena of home fans, who continued to cheer for the young star throughout the match, Hewitt, who is ranked 1263 on the ATP Tour, impressed as he suffered a hard relegation against the former world number 16.

Struggling to fend off the Georgian’s attack as his 32-year-old opponent served for love several times in the opening set, Hewitt shocked fans with his first serve of the match, sending a monstrous stroke into the far corner of the match rattled. box for an ace.

The Georgian is looking to qualify for his ninth spot in the main draw this week and had an excellent qualifying campaign for the Australian Open, taking a 5-0 lead against Hewitt in the first set.

But Hewitt did not let love defeat him. He fought back late in the first set, forcing Basilashvili’s mistake with a perfectly weighted strike to the baseline, pulling a game back of his own.

Lleyton Hewitt (left) is pictured looking at his son, almost 30 years after qualifying for his first Australian Open

Even as the crowd behind him chanted ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi’, the first set was too far beyond Hewitt’s reach at this point, but he was riding high on a boost having taken a game from his opponent . Hewitt recovered in the second set to claim a huge break point at 2-1, outdoing his 32-year-old opponent with a brilliantly timed backhand.

Unfortunately for the young Aussie, he couldn’t take the opportunity to gain a foothold as he failed to hold his own serve before being beaten 3-2.

While down he certainly didn’t give up, with Hewitt again forcing Basilashvili to dig deep and saving two break points at 4-2.

The Georgian struggled to break Hewitt in the resulting altercation, but turned up the throttle to love, before clinching victory and a place in the second qualifying round with a 6-4 win.

It’s back to the drawing board for Hewitt, but there will be plenty of positives to take from this match.

Coming up against a seasoned ATP Tour player, the youngster certainly held his own and impressed the patrons around Court 3 by moving Basilashvili around the court with some excellent shots.