Bernard Tomic’s forgettable tennis season has continued, with the 24-year-old losing in the final round of qualifying for the Antwerp ATP 250 event.

Tomic, currently the world No.144, lost 6-7 (3-7) 5-7 to 29-year-old Aldin Setkic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Setkic is currently at a career-high world ranking of No.165 and swept Tomic aside after 1hr 39min on Monday.

Tomic, a former world No.17, continues to stare down the prospect of missing direct qualification for January’s Australian Open.

He will likely need to be ranked in the top 105 in the world for a direct entry, otherwise he’ll require a wildcard from Tennis Australia – a body he’s consistently had a difficult relationship with – or be forced into qualifying.

The most recent time he went down the latter path was as an unranked 15 year-old back in 2008.

In Tokyo earlier in October, Tomic picked up his first main-draw win in more than three months when he beat Joao Sousa 6-3 3-6 6-3 in the opening round of the Japan Open.

He exited the tournament in the next round, after losing to world No.29 Diego Schwartzman 3-6 1-6.