Miami Masters: Bernard Tomic suffers quickest loss in ATP history

Bernard Tomic

It was one of those quintessential “blink and you’ll miss it” matches.

Returning from a two-month injury lay-off, Australian Bernard Tomic ended up on the losing side of the quickest match in ATP history since the governing body started recording such data in 1991.

Tomic took on Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen in the first round at the Sony Open Tennis Masters in Miami on Thursday. It was the 21-year-old’s first match since retiring against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open in January with a groin injury.

It would be fair to say that Tomic’s comeback did not go as planned as the Australian surrendered the first set 6-0 in just 13 minutes! Tomic won just three points in the whole of the first set and managed to get on the scoreboard only after going 0-6, 0-3 down.

There was nothing more to cheer about for the Queenslander though as Nieminen took the next three games to win 6-0, 6-1 in 28 minutes and 20 seconds, which officially made it the shortest ever match completed on the ATP tour.

The previous record was set in 1996, when Greg Rusedski won 6-0, 6-0 over Carsten Arriens in 29 minutes in Sydney.

“I felt like I did the best as I could, and I’m happy that I’m coming back,” Tomic said. “Hopefully in a little bit of time I can get back to 100 percent. It’s not easy, but I’m trying, doing everything and trying my best to get there,” Tomic said after the match.

It’s nice to know that Tomic can have such a positive outlook after such a crushing loss!