By Linda Pearce
Australian No.1 Bernard Tomic is booked in for wisdom teeth extraction and a schedule trim after contesting this week's Miami Open, a tournament his female equivalent, Sam Stosur, will enter having just dispensed with her third coach in 19 months.
Last week Tomic withdrew from his Indian Wells quarter-final against eventual champion Novak Djokovic, citing tooth-related inflammation in his face and neck and a sore lower back after a punishing schedule of seven tournaments and a successful Davis Cup tie in the first three months of the year.
Bernard Tomic's 775 ATP rankings points from a 20-6 record place him among the men's top 10 so far in the calendar year.Credit: Getty Images
He will contest this week's 12-day Masters 1000 event in Florida, but will then have the infected teeth removed, with dental scans having been sent from Brisbane to Miami, and his father, John, indicating Tomic would be absent from the practice court for up to a week.
John Tomic said he was also planning to pare back Bernard's playing program after discussions with his management company on Tuesday, and reduce his commitments to the planned 18-20 tournaments a year to allow for training blocs and rest and guard against injury and fatigue.
That will start with clay, Tomic jnr's least favourite surface. Having deliberately packed his schedule to rebuild his ranking to its current position inside the top 30, the 22-year-old is likely to miss the Monte Carlo Masters, and play just Madrid, Rome and possibly Barcelona before the French Open, starting on May 24.
"After Miami, straight away he will go down and make [the wisdom teeth] operation, and with his back, he is sore, so we have every day with physio, and they make massage and these things and now he's struggling a little bit," Tomic snr, now working primarily with his daughter Sara, told Fairfax Media.
"From middle of November, December, January, February, March, Bernard he didn't have seven days' rest – it was work, work work, tournament, Davis Cup, and then got a little bit tight, tired muscle. But is coming better and recovering every day, so he will be OK."
Which is the good news. The better news is that Tomic's 775 ATP rankings points from a 20-6 record place him among the men's top 10 so far in the calendar year behind runaway leader Djokovic (3385) and second-placed Andy Murray (1820), with Roger Federer fifth (1515) and the injury-compromised Rafael Nadal ninth (970).
Less stellar, though, has been Stosur's start to the season, with the Queenslander having now slipped to No.26 before a first round bye in Miami, before the switch to clay that has provided rankings buoyancy in so many seasons past.
Her manager, Paul Kilderry, confirmed on Monday last week's decision to part ways with Simon Rea after just seven months, Rea – who formerly coached Nick Kyrgios – having succeeded Brit Miles Maclagan, who followed Stosur's long-time coach David Taylor in late 2013.
Stosur, who turns 31 next week, has a first-round bye in Miami, as does her Fed Cup teammate Casey Dellacqua, while Ajla Tomljanovic and Daria Gavrilova, the two newest Australian tennis residents awaiting citizenship, are also in the main draw. Stosur, the 2011 US Open champion, has not won consecutive matches this season. Rea declined to comment, except to wish Stosur the best and say: "I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Sam and am full of admiration and respect for her as such an ultimate professional in her field."
Meanwhile, Djokovic won his fourth BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Sunday by defeating four-time champion Roger Federer 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, extending his lead at the head of the rankings and cut Federer's head-to-head advantage to 20-18. "I am at the prime of my career," Djokovic said. "I'm going to try to use every part of this fact to stay where I am and to fight for as many major titles as possible."
Third seed Simona Halep won the women's title, the biggest of her career and the Romanian's third of the season. Handed a semi-final walkover by the injured Serena Williams, Halep beat Jelena Jankovic 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, to remain unbeaten in her six three-set matches in 2015.