BERNARD Tomic hopes to end his world ranking free fall with a strong Australian Open campaign, which will start at the Brisbane International in January.

The Gold Coaster is ranked 26th after starting the year at No. 18 and he has Brisbane International semi-final ranking points to defend, followed by a quarter-final result at the Sydney International and fourth round at the Australian Open.

The 24-year-old has won $US1.08 million this year, making one tour final, and had his best Grand Slam tournament results at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, at which he reached the fourth round.

Younger men such as fellow Aussie Nick Kyrgios, 21, Frenchman Lucas Pouille, 22, and 19-year-old German Alexander Zverev have moved past Tomic in the rankings.

Brisbane International tournament director Geoff Quinlan said Tomic’s agent had assured him the Australian No. 2 would not be set back by an abdominal injury which forced him to call an early halt to his season in Asia last month.

“His manager David Drysdale told me this morning that Bernard will do a training block and be good to go,’’ Quinlan said.

“He is not playing IPTL (team tennis in Asia next month) and will look to have a strong start in Brisbane, as he did in 2016 with a semi-final appearance in Brisbane.

“We know what Bernard’s capabilities are and he plays well in Australia. He’ll be seeing it like a football in January.’’

Top-ranked Australian woman Samantha Stosur and third-ranked man John Millman will add further Queensland content to the field for the January 1-8 event, Quinlan said.

Major Events Minister Kate Jones said the State Government’s financial support for the Brisbane men’s and women’s tournament would extend for five more years.

It will result in extra shaded seating for spectators and the installation of Hawkeye on the secondary No. 1 court, which will have 400 additional seats to provide for a capacity of 1260 seats in temporary stands.

“The details of support are confidential but it’s critical support with the landscape for sponsorship being so difficult,’’ Quinlan said.

“We’ve been able to reinvest into the tournament site so there is more shade and more seats for the spectators at the No. 1 court, which will have more of a stadium feel to it.’’

He said installing Hawkeye on a second court was a significant investment but with five top-10 men in the field consistency between Pat Rafter Arena and the No. 1 court was important.

US Open champion Stan Wawrinka, Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic, Japan’s Kei Nishikori, Spanish great Rafael Nadal and Belgian Dominic Thiem are the top-10 men who have entered this year’s event..

Two of the three Grand Slam tournament champions of the year, world No. 1 Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza, headline the women’s field.