Global management company IMG has confirmed its split with Bernard Tomic, just as the troubled Australian tennis star scored his first back-to-back match wins since January.
The agency used Twitter to announce it had cut ties with the 21-year-old on Thursday, but didn’t specify reasons.
Reports earlier in the week suggested it had terminated his contract before it was due to expire because of his off-court behaviour.
“IMG and Bernard Tomic have mutually ended our relationship,” IMG Tennis tweeted.
“We wish Bernard great success on and off the tennis court.”
It’s unclear who will next represent Tomic, who has been with IMG since he was 13 – before he won the boys’ titles at the 2008 Australian Open and 2009 US Open.
The agreement spawned marketing deals with the likes of Nike, Yonex, Optus and Qantas potentially worth millions of dollars.
But in the space of two years, since reaching the fourth round of the 2012 Australian Open, Tomic has slipped from a career-high world ranking of No.27 to his current standing at 124th.
That could improve next week, however, after the Queenslander booked a spot in the quarter-finals of the Claro Open in Bogota, Colombia, on Thursday morning (AEST).
Tomic beat local hope Alejandro Falla 6-1 7-6 in just 90 minutes to advance to a last-eight meeting with third seed Vasek Pospisil.
Not since January – during his run to the final of the Sydney International – has he enjoyed successive match victories or reached a tournament quarter-final.
Subsequent double hip surgery forced him off the court for two months, wreaking havoc on his season.
He showed signs of a return to form recently on grass, pushing Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon, and continued that on the hard courts of Bogota by winning both of his matches in straight sets.
Meanwhile, compatriot Matt Ebden was forced to withdraw from his first-round match against British qualifier James Ward in Colombia due to a wrist injury.
Fellow Australian Sam Groth earlier beat wildcard Juan Sebastian Cabal to advance to the second round, where he’ll face top seed Richard Gasquet.
Martin
Guest
Oh it is disappointing that the sport of tennis is not popular. This is an old story from last week; nevertheless, I am using this story to congratulate Bernard Tomic for winning the Colombian Open championship in Bogota, just yesterday. Tennis use to be big in my day, but now there are so many different sports all competing for media coverage.
Jayden
Guest
Already back in the top 100 regardless of if he loses to Pospisil, back to 94th.