Bernard Tomic says his title in Bogota will give him confidence for the U.S. Open series following a week where he found himself outside the Top 100 and he was publicly dropped by his management company.
Tomic, who got into the tournament as a wild card, defeated defending champion Ivo Karlovic to put himself back at No. 70 in the rankings.
"I'm very happy. I was preparing as much as I could to do well at this tournament. I'm very happy to have got a wild card from the tournament director," he said in his press conference following his win.
Tomic, who was 7-8 for the season going into the tournament, said that he was looking for a good result to lift his ranking. Having been in the news for his partying and his motivation being questioned following double hip surgery this season, he put in extra preparation for the event and found his form for a week with a "long tournament, lot of rain."
"I came here a week before," said Tomic. ''The first two days... I had no timing no rhythm. I kept doing training, fitness and started to play better.''
The 21-year-old will need a wild card to get into the U.S. Open, but has a better chance of receiving one from Tennis Australia following this victory. He also wants to build on the win during the hard-court season, saying, ''This tournament gives me confidence for the next four or five weeks.''