The past few years have not been kind to Bernard Tomic, in both an on-court and an off-court sense. When he broke into both the world spotlight and the top 100 after reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals as a teenager in 2011, and taking a set off Novak Djokovic there, the world expected big things of him. He was at the top of the young guns waiting to break the stranglehold of the Big Four on tennis, which he validated by moving into the top 30 a year after that.

Since then, though, things have become rocky for the young Aussie. Without going into too much detail of his personal life, it is fair to say that Tomic has been criticized for his attitude both on and off the court. He is held up to a spectacular standard of on-court performance by the Australian and world sports media and is sharply attacked when he fails to meet that standard. That, in turn, has led to a vicious cycle of poor on-court demeanor and performances, which has led to more media criticism, and so on.

Close to the core of these issue stands Tomic’s father and coach, John Tomic. In short, he was banned from attending many ATP matches after assaulting Tomic’s hitting partner. While we probably never will know the full details of this situation, it certainly could not have been good for Bernard’s tennis.

So why does all of this matter any more today than in the past? Quite simply, because Tomic just won his first title of the year in Bogota last week. It was his second career title and third career final, having reached the final in the Sydney tournament each of the past two years.

In a sport as mentally demanding as tennis, and because Australia has such a vocal tennis media, winning really can change everything. One title won’t fix any personal issues that Tomic may or may not have, but coming through a tough week and lifting that trophy should positively affect his future on-court performances. In a momentum-driven, constantly changing sport like tennis, there is no way it cannot.

Three weeks ago, Tomic fell out of the top 100 for the first time since that Wimbledon quarterfinal run in 2011. Now, though, after having to fight hard to beat tough opponents like Vasek Pospisil and Ivo Karlovic (among others) to claim the title, he is back up to world No. 70. The 250 points earned last week give him a grace period in which he can raise his ranking even higher without concerns of slipping too far. This accomplishment also should give the Australian media something positive to discuss, for Tomic certainly knows that they have been highlighting negatives about him for many months now.

Tomic had certainly been in a downward spiral for quite a long time. And while no one can know the future to tell us precisely how this result will push him forward, there is one thing we need to remember. At a time like this in a young player’s career, one win really can change everything.