Bernard Tomic defeats opponent ranked inside top 100 for first time in two years

It was on grass and in Spain, not at Wimbledon, but Bernard Tomic did something that he hadn’t done for two years.

As 16 Australians began their Wimbledon qualifying quest, forgotten man Bernard Tomic achieved a rare feat, beating a player inside the top 100 for the first time in two years to earn his place in an ATP main draw at a grass-court event in Spain.

It’s the first time since the 2021 Australian Open that Tomic, now down at 243 in the rankings, has booked a place in a tour-level event.

The 32-year-old, who has been traversing the world playing lower level and Challenger events in his bid to get back to the top, defeated world No.77 Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 at the grass court Mallorca Championships.

It set up a clash with fellow Aussie, Rinky Hijikata, who is already qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon, one of eight men and five women locked in for the year’s third grand slam.

We have our 4 qualifiers!
 
Basavareddy d Navone 61 64⁰Holt d Ymer 76 63⁰Quinn d Kopriva 57 75 76
Tomic d Kovacevic 76 63 ⁰⁰@ATPTour | @ATPTour_ES | #MallorcaChampionshipspic.twitter.com/ECJD1DnmXX

— Mallorca Championships (@MallorcaChamps) June 22, 2025

The Mallorca event is among a swath of grass-court events where Australians already qualified for Wimbledon are rounding out their preparations.

James Duckworth beat British wildcard Johannus Monday 6-4 6-2 and Aleksandar Vukic downed American Jenson Brooksby 7-5 6-3 to book their places in the Eastbourne International men’s main draw.

Kim Birrell also made it through Eastbourne qualifying to join Australian No. 1 Daria Kasatkina, and teen star and Maya Joint in the women’s event.

Former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic also took a walkover win over Germany’s Eva Lys, to make it into the Bad Homburg WTA main draw.

AUSTRALIANS QUALIFIED FOR WIMBLEDON

Men’s singles:

Alex de Minaur

Alexei Popyrin

Jordan Thompson

Aleksandar Vukic

Rinky Hijikata

Chris O’Connell

Adam Walton

James Duckworth

Women’s singles

Daria Kasatkina

Kimberly Birrell

Maya Joint

Ajla Tomljanovic

Olivia Gadecki