By Chris Oddo | Sunday July 26, 2015
Bernard Tomic finished off his title defense in Bogota with a three-set victory over Adrian Mannarino of France.
Photo Source: AAP
You don’t hear Bernard Tomic’s name mentioned alongside those of the big four very often, but thanks to his back-to-back titles at Bogota, the Aussie bad boy is now one of five players to have successfully defended a title this year. The other four? Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka. That’s pretty select company, and though Tomic faced a pretty watered-down field this week at the Claro Open Colombia, The 22-year-old’s performance marks a welcome departure from all the controversy (see: arrest or epic Wimbledon rant) that he’s produced in the month of July.
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On Sunday Tomic needed three sets—and a little help from the trainer—to deny Frenchman Adrian Mannarino a maiden title. After getting dropping the second set and showing some visible signs of fatigue, Tomic notched the critical break of the match in the sixth game of the decider and proceeded to drop to the court like a water balloon that had been tossed out of a window immediately after. He then took a moment with the trainer, rather than waiting for a changeover, and returned to finish off the match, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.
It wasn't pretty, but it was quite good enough. Tomic’s third title left the Aussie feeling satisfied. "Every title you remember,” he said after the match, according to the ATP. “I'm very happy to have won my third title and to defend it here was amazing. I'm really happy with myself... This is my most consistent year."
The Aussie hit nine aces and saved five of seven break points on the day, including all three he faced in the decider. He improved his record to 30-17 on the season and 24-7 on hard courts.