Bernard Tomic will return to tournament play via a wildcard entry into next week's ATP tournament in Bucharest, as he starts his claycourt build-up to next month's French Open after an extended injury break on the Gold Coast.
Bernard Tomic: Set to resume from a wrist injury. Photo: AP
The Australian No.2, who is ranked one spot behind Nick Kyrgios at 21st in the world, has not played since retiring with wrist problems while trailing Milos Raonic 6-2, 3-0 just 36 minutes into their third-round match at the Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells a month ago.
With the 28-draw BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy on the lowest of the ATP Tour's three tiers, and the richer Barcelona Open scheduled during the same week, Tomic is expected to be the top seed ahead of veteran Croat Ivo Karlovic in Bucharest.
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Clay is the flat-hitting Queenslander's least preferred surface, with each of his three career singles titles having come on hardcourts, and his grand slam breakthrough hosted by Wimbledon's grass in 2011. This week Tomic has started hitting under the guidance of Tennis Australia coach Ben Mathias in a Southport training group completed by Davis Cup teammates Sam Groth and a rehabilitating Thanasi Kokkinakis. Groth will also return to competition next week, while Kokkinakis has set a major comeback date from shoulder surgery as the French Open at best and Wimbledon at worst.
Tomic had been playing with right wrist soreness since his fourth-round loss to Andy Murray at January's Australian Open, including the controversial Davis Cup tie against the US at Kooyong in which he suggested Kyrgios had faked an illness to avoid playing, while he soldiered on and lost the fourth rubber in four sets to John Isner. But, after a stoush that escalated when Kyrgios responded caustically on social media, the pair were seen practising together in Indian Wells, where there appeared to be no lingering ill-feeling.
The Tomic wrist problem, which affects his serve in particular, will not require surgery, and the 23-year-old will complete his Roland Garros preparation with consecutive tournaments in Istanbul, Madrid and Rome, according to his agent at Starwing Sports, Nicolas Lemperin.
Kyrgios, who displaced Tomic as the national No.1 after reaching his first Masters-level semi-final in Miami a fortnight ago, is not scheduled to play again until the Madrid Masters from May 2.