'Let's not lie': Bernard Tomic's sobering admission as return to top 100 comes into view

Bernard Tomic has admitted his best days are behind him but he continues to compete because he finds pleasure in challenging himself.

As he fights to get back into the top 100, 32-year-old Tomic, currently ranked 181, has battled through several Challenger events in recent months, and made a quarter-final appearance at the Jinan Challenger last week.

With little time to recover, the Australian entered the qualifying rounds of the Almaty Open, winning both rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw of an ATP tournament for just the second time since 2021.

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But he failed to advance beyond the first round, eventually falling to eighth seed Corentin Moutet in the opening round in Almaty, his sixth match in seven days.

At his peak, Tomic reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2011 at age 18 and achieved a career-high ranking of No.17.

He has not been in the top 100 since 2019, and now sits at world No.181.

"I was bored, so I came back," he told French publication L'Equipe. "It's a challenge I set myself. I was a little tired a few years ago, I didn't train much when I was 25-26.

"I took a long break, so it took me time to find what I really wanted to do.

"It's been three years since I started properly again and the results are starting to follow. But it's so hard. I'm getting old, I need time."

Once viewed as a future star, Tomic began to live up to expectations as he broke into the top 20 in 2016.

But by the end of the 2017 season, he fell to No.140 as off-court controversies took hold following his rapid rise.

Tomic said he's not paying attention to the rankings this time around.

"I don't even know where I am in the rankings, I'm around the top 150, right?" he said.

"It's above all a question of motivation. Now when I leave the court, I have nothing left in the engine, I'm completely dry.

"But I still find pleasure in it. I do it to challenge myself. I was down close to the top 1000 not so long ago, now I'm aiming for the top 100.

"And if I get there, I'll see if it still motivates me. But let's not lie to each other, I'll never get back to my prime like when I was in the top 20."

Tomic has not played in the main draw of a major tournament since the 2021 Australian Open.

He will now turn his attention to the ATP Challenger Tour in his bid to break back into the top 100, after the loss at the Almaty Open.