Tomic gains lucky loser entry to ATP event

Bernard Tomic will be one of four Australians in the main draw of the ATP Tour’s Delray Beach Open, despite suffering another humiliating straight-sets defeat in qualifying.

Tomic was beaten 6-2 6-0 in just 53 minutes by Ernests Gulbis in the second round of qualifying in Florida.

However, he remains in the ATP 250 tournament after being drawn as the lucky loser to replace Tennys Sandgren, who withdrew due to knee pain.

Queenslander Tomic will face Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in the first round with the winner taking on either second-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic or Italian veteran Andreas Seppi – the beaten finalist at the New York Open on Sunday.

Nick Kyrgios is the top seed in Delray Beach, as he returns to the tour after he pulled out of the New York Open due to a shoulder ailment, while fifth-seeded John Millman and Jordan Thompson are in the same half of the draw as the world No.20.

The 27-year-old Tomic has plummeted to 191st in the world, having been ranked a career-high 17th just four years ago.

Tomic’s quickfire loss to Gulbis, in which he won just three points in the second set, is still the second longest of his past five matches.

He endured the second-fastest defeat of his career last week in New York, falling to Japan’s Go Soeda 6-2 6-1 in just 39 minutes.

He lost to world No.306 Brandon Nakashima in just 44 minutes in Dallas earlier this month.

That shortest match of Tomic’s career is his 28-minute effort in losing 6-0 6-1 to Jarkko Nieminen in 2014.

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