The fifth edition of the ATP 250 Mallorca Championships offered some interesting stories.
A first round match attracted much attention as it marked the return to the main draw for Bernard Tomic of Australia. After nearly four and a half years of playing tournaments at the lower Futures and Challenger levels, or unsuccessful qualifying events, the former World No. 17 was back.
Ranked 243, he missed the cut-off for the Wimbledon qualifying event and decided not to hang around Roehampton in case another player dropped out. Instead he travelled to Mallorca and won two qualification matches and a place in Round 1 of the tournament there.
Now aged 32, Tomic was an outstanding junior, winning the junior event at the Australian Open at 15 and the following year, at the US Open.
With his talent at slicing or chipping the ball, grass courts suit his game, and his best career result was a quarterfinal at Wimbledon in 2011.
But since his teenage years, a circus of controversies has swirled around Tomic’s career – allegations of tanking; a fine for lack of effort; an investigation (without charge) into match-fixing; regular estrangements from members of the Australian tennis fraternity; sneaking a girl friend into the Davis Cup practice camp against the rules; locking himself in his house to avoid police after their pursuit of him; his father’s ATP/ITF ban for assaulting Bernard’s practice partner; a brief flirtation with Only Fans via an ex-girl friend; social media feuds with his on/off/on/off friend and fellow partyboy Nick Kyrgios – and more.
He played the shortest completed (without a retirement) ATP match when he was defeated by Jarkko Nieminen in 28 minutes at the 2014 Miami Open. Eventually, his ranking fell as low as No. 825.
In Mallorca, he focussed on his tennis and made the most of his opportunity by beating fellow Aussie Ricky Hijikata, ranked 88, after losing the first set. Then in the second, he was down 3-5 before coming back to take it and stay in the match. With a score of 3-6 7-5 6-2, aided by nine aces, Tomic progressed to the next round.
There he faced the last Spaniard still standing in the tournament, 37 year old Roberto Bautista Agut, formerly ranked 9 in the world.
In the first set, the slice, the angles and the ability to disguise his intentions were all present for Tomic. He hit 12 winners to nine for the set, but lost it 3-6.
Several fans in the crowd started a chant of “Let’s go Bernie, Let’s Go!”, but in the second set, he quickly went down 0-4 having landed only two first serves. He fought back to 3-4 but seemed drained, though he continued to run for the ball. He lost the set, again, 3-6.
Still, Tomic had won his first match in a main draw for 1597 days.
For those who have long wished he would revive his career with a return to the ATP tour, it was a step in the right direction.
Corentin Moutet has an eccentric and exciting playing style similar to Alexander Bublik or Nick Kyrgios. In his Instagram bio, he’s described not as “tennis player” or “athlete” but as “Artist”. On the back of his neck a tattoo has inscribed “Chaos makes a muse”.
The Frenchman was unseeded and ranked 83 at the beginning of the week in Mallorca. Every player he beat on his way to the final was higher ranked. The other finalist was 34th ranked and 4th seeded Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands.
The day of the final was hot without the usual wind from the ocean to provide relief. The tournament provided free fans to the spectators, who sat baking in the sun. The white fans continuously fluttered throughout the match; from a distance resembling hundreds of butterflies.
The players used ice towels at every changeover and poured water over their heads. Of course, the ballkids shaded them with umbrellas.
From Moutet’s point of view, it was a frustrating match. Several times he fought the impulse to break his racquet. Once he gave into the urge and received a code violation warning.
Many of the games were close. Moutet had four break points but could convert none. His opponent could at least claim one of his four.
That happened at 3-3 in the second set. There were five deuces and each player had three break points. And it was Griekspoor who broke.
Soon after he seemed affected by the heat, but gathered himself in the eventual tiebreak to lead all the way to take the trophy, 7-5 7-6(3).
He won the Mallorca final by coming to the net 47 times, winning 32 of them. In contrast, Moutet came to the net six times, winning four points.
Having waited five years to play in a second ATP final, Moutet made a lengthy runner-up speech, pausing to control his emotions a few times.
“Usually we focus on the players. We’re amazing when we win, we are so bad when we lose. But the most important thing is the journey… I’m so lucky to have my family and [team] supporting me, doing sacrifices, leaving their family for me to achieve my goals. I’m so glad guys…that you’re with me every day…
“…I’m going to come back on the court on Tuesday already at “Wimby” and we’re going to achieve our dreams together. I really believe in it, so we’re going to continue to work hard.”
As an aside to tournament director and Mallorca native Toni Nadal, who had fanned himself at the presentation, Moutet told him “You’re a legend, You’re very handsome as well.”
For Griekspoor, the victory came in his first tournament back from a month off due to an abdominal strain. The injury had forced him to retire during his fourth round match against Alexander Zverev at Roland Garros.
The Mallorca Championships was Griekspoor’s second grass court title, the other being in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2023. It was his third title overall.
He kept his speech short, thanking the crowd for “sitting here in 35 degrees without any shade”.
To console Moutet, he said, “It’s good to see you make the end of a tournament instead of seeing videos of tweeners and drop shots.”
Title collage images by ATP & Tolo Balaguer / Shutterstock
Wimbledon Update
Corentin Moutet beat Francisco Comesana in the first round of Wimbledon in straight sets before losing to 19th seed Grigor Dimitrov, 5-7 6-4 5-7 5-7.
Tallon Griekspoor, the 31st seed, was defeated in the first round by unseeded Jenson Brooksby, 2-6 5-7 3-6.