John Millman thrashes Bernard Tomic

John Millman ruthlessly thrashed Bernard Tomic in just 48 minutes.

Australia’s John Millman.

In the aftermath of Bernard Tomic’s ill-fated trip to the jungle, John Millman was the first Australian to be quizzed about a slight his fellow Queenslander had aimed at his compatriots.

Tomic’s declaration that Australia could not win the Davis Cup without him bemused current members of a team preparing for a tie against Germany in early February.

“Sometimes Bernie just says stuff. Obviously, Bernie in full form, at 100 per cent, is a great addition to any Davis Cup team,” Millman said at the time.

“We’ll see down the track if he gets there, but in terms of can the Australian boys win it without Bernie? I’d say we can.”

Millman is an amiable man. He is also a hard-nosed professional determined to wring what he can out of a career imperilled repeatedly by injury.

When preparing for a final against Tomic in the south of France on Sunday, he is unlikely to have needed any additional motivation to succeed.

In a decider switched from clay to an indoor hardcourt due to rain, the 28-year-old ruthlessly thrashed Tomic 6-1 6-2 in just 48 minutes in Aix-en-Provence, winning 56 of the 85 points played.

His 11th Challenger Tour title — believed to be an Australian record — earned him $29,000 and propelled him to a career-high ranking of 58.

The Australian No 2 also won a Challenger title in Kyoto earlier this year and reached his first ATP Tour final in Budapest last month in a confidence-boosting preparation for the French Open.

“(I’m) very happy with my preparations for Roland Garros,” Millman said. “I wanted to come to Europe early to give myself the best chance going into the tournament and I’m really happy with how I’m playing.”

Despite the loss, this could prove a particularly important week for Tomic as he seeks to rebuild his career.

And there may be no more important game in his second coming than the break of serve he achieved in his first-round match against 2016 French Open junior champion Geoffrey Blancaneaux when he was trailing 3-5 in the deciding set.

Had the 25-year-old dropped that game, he would have dipped outside the top 250. Instead he bounces back inside the Australian top 10 and is ranked at 191. That should ensure him entry into Wimbledon qualifying.

An ability to string together four wins in succession on his least preferred surface, admittedly on the secondary tour, is a confidence boost for the former world No 17 heading into French Open qualifying.

A fortnight out from the French Open, it remains unclear whether Australia’s top-ranked man Nick Kyrgios will play as he recovers from an elbow injury that has forced him out of three Masters Series events on clay.

Alexei Popyrin, who became the first Australian to win the French Open juniors in more than 50 years, is showing promise. After taking a set of Millman last week, has qualified for the lucrative Bordeaux challenger tournament.

Alex de Minaur, meanwhile, has moved to a career high 106 in the rankings after reaching the semi-finals of a Challenger tournament in Portugal.

Australia’s four top-ranked women Ash Barty, Daria Gavrilova, Sam Stosur and Ajla Tomljanovic are all playing in the Italian Open this week.

The 16th seeded Barty will play Maria Sharapova in an enticing opening round.

Additional reporting: AAP