By Linda Pearce
Painfully, in several respects, Bernard Tomic has retired mid-match for the fourth time this season. Yet the 40 minutes he played against Spanish 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut may also be the Queenslander's last in what has been a slightly below-expectations year.
Tomic admitted he may have erred in contesting the doubles at last week's China Open, where he reached the final with American Jack Sock. He said the abdominal soreness he first felt two weeks before Wimbledon had returned in Beijing, and he decided not to risk further damage by attempting to finish a Shanghai Rolex Masters first round he trailed 6-3 3-0.
Tomic on court in the China Open where he played "very sore".Credit: Getty Images
The world No.23 consulted tournament medical staff afterwards and said his plans for the final weeks of the tennis year were uncertain. He is entered for ATP tournaments in Moscow and Vienna before the final Masters 1000 tournament in Paris next month.
"I've just got to look at this and if it's something that (means) I have to stop for a little bit then I have to. If that means for the rest of the year then it means that," Tomic said.
Stomach soreness has put the rest of Tomic's season in doubt. Credit: Andy Lyons
"There's not so many weeks to go, I think only three tournaments to go and if I can't play them then it's no problem for me, but I really have to look at it in the next few days and decide what I'm gonna do".
Tomic, who has also failed to finish matches in Sydney, Indian Wells and Rome in 2016, said it may have been a "mistake" to continue in the doubles draw in Beijing, where he and Sock lost the final to Spanish pair Rafael Nadal and Pablo Carreno Busta.
"(I) was very very sore in those matches... so I felt like maybe I shouldn't have played doubles and made it worse." he said. "I knew it was going to be tough for me today to play, but didn't quite realise it was going to be that bad.
"As I got into the match I sort of expected it was gonna go away with the adrenalin and the heat of being in the moment and playing, but I guess it didn't."
A quarter-finalist in Shanghai last year, Tomic was considerng his medical options on Tuesday night. "I don't think it's something too serious and I hope really I can get it looked at and it goes away very quickly," he said, having been limited in his service motion in particular.
"It's tough. It's the respect of being on the court against a good friend of mine and a good player so I felt like I did what was necessary and stopped to (not) further hurt my body."
Whether he plays on or not, Tomic will have still failed to build on his progress from last year, when he rose from 56th to finish with a career-high ranking of 18th. He has since been overtaken by countryman Nick Kyrgios, whose star is now far more obviously on the ascent.
"I felt like I didn't play my best this year but I managed to stay in between 18 and 24 of the rankings for the whole of the year so I was quite pleased with that, but I feel like I need to push on a little bit more for next year, for sure," Tomic said.
"It's that next step to go inside the top 13, 14 for me, and there was a few chances. I was a few points away this year... but unfortunately I didn't take my opportunities and I have to work for this if I want to get it."
Linda Pearce is a guest of the Shanghai Rolex Masters