Tomic continues resurgence, de Minaur sets up clash with Hewitt

Born-again Bernard Tomic has continued his extraordinary renaissance with another stunning victory to surge into his first ATP quarterfinal in seven years.A day after notching the fastest win on the tour all year, Tomic claimed the prized scalp of dual grand slam semifinalist Karen Khachanov in a straight-sets blitz in Mexico on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).And rounding out a banner day for Australian tennis less than a month out from the US Open, world number six Alex de Minaur has beaten his old nemesis Stefanos Tsitsipas to set up an intriguing showdown with Cruz Hewitt in Washington.The day, though, belonged to the resurgent Tomic.The one-time world number 17 crushed fourth-seeded Khachanov — the big-serving Russian who ousted Nick Kyrgios to reach the 2022 US Open semifinals — 6-2, 6-4 to continue his spectacular comeback from the brink of retirement.The 33-year-old hinted he was considering hanging up his racquet before snaring the Lincoln Challenger this month."I'll be as honest as I can, about 10 days ago I hit a bit of a brick wall, maybe two weeks ago," Tomic said in the aftermath of his biggest breakthrough since 2018."I said this was going to be my last year, so I guess I have to reassess a few things now. Now that I won, I'm going to have to go back to the table. I'm probably going to play another 20 years."Twenty more years may be a stretch, but Tomic is playing some vintage tennis.The former teenage Wimbledon quarter-finalist only made the main draw in Mexico as a qualifying lucky loser.Now he is three wins away from hoisting the trophy in Los Cabos, having earlier needed just 46 minutes to take down Alex Hernandez 6-1, 6-0 in the first round.Currently ranked 171st, Tomic will climb even further and potentially to as high as number 132 if he wins a most unexpected fifth ATP title.Next up will be either British fifth seed Cam Norrie or fellow Australian James Duckworth in Tomic's first ATP quarterfinal since losing to de Minaur in Atlanta in 2019.De Minaur, meanwhile, is celebrating his own big victory, after downing Tsitsipas for only the second time in 14 meetings to reach the last 16 in the US capital.The 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win earned the top seed and defending champion a first-time encounter with 17-year-old Hewitt, de Minaur's understudy and son of Australian Davis Cup captain and mentor Lleyton.After winning his first ATP match on Wednesday, Hewitt said it would be a "dream" to square off against de Minaur, who he likened to a big brother."I've known him basically my whole life," said Hewitt, who made the Wimbledon boys' final two weeks ago."​He's stayed with us and we have Christmas together, also. He's taught me so ​much. I think that ⁠would be a pretty cool memory for us."AAP