Bernand ‘Atomic’ Tomic has been hailed as the next big thing on the men’s tour ever since he burst onto the scene with his spectacular Wimbledon quarter-final performance in 2011. The mercurial Australian has been tagged with certain metaphors as the Grand Slam champion. . -waiting, child prodigy from Down-under due to his style of play that has all the characteristics of a future world number 1.
After a stellar 2011, he failed to reignite the same form in the corresponding year, having had a lousy 2012 by his standards. The Gold Coast resident was struggling to come to terms with his emotions as he was having a torrid time on the court and with it his ranking fell below the top 50 for the first time in two years.
However, with the entire Australian tennis fraternity, including the likes of Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt, coming to his rescue during the closing stages of last season, anyone could guess that Tomic will be at his best once he has denied everything. the pessimism of his mind. That irrevocably proved true when he kicked off his 2013 campaign strongly by beating former world number 2 Tommy Haas and reigning Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic at the Hopman Cup in Perth. A week later, he brought home the first title of his career by winning the Apia International in Sydney by overcoming a tough challenge from long-serving South African Kevin Anderson, much to the delight of his home fans.
The uproar during their matches at Melbourne Park was palpable as he rushed to the third round of the Asia-Pacific Grand Slam to meet his childhood idol – magician Roger Federer and, while the scoreboard suggests it was an easy affair for the Swiss In hindsight, everyone knew it wasn’t. In fact, the 20-year-old showed his true potential in that encounter: he wasn’t afraid to take on the maestro as he went for his shots, he was hitting the ball with incredible poise and flair, he was mixing up the game. with low cuts and sharp drop-shots. Also, his serve kept him in a good position through the first two sets as he tried to stay close to the Wimbledon winner.
The omens have been pretty good for the youngster so far and if he can maintain the confidence he’s had this year, there’s no doubt that 2013 will be a turning point in the shaping of the Stuttgart-born lad’s career. With improvements to his backhand, along with a change of attitude that instills patience for tour wins, the kid is sure to do justice to his immense talent.
He needs to keep working hard though, as he still has a long way to go in the movement department; usually he is not quite sure of the position of his feet and that must be nullified if he is to prove long-term success.