Tomic carries the hopes of a nation
But Federer warns Aussie not to get too carried away
TAKE Awalk around the Grand Slam Oval at Melbourne Park and it is easy to see why Australia has such high expectations of tennis success.
A long semi-circle of bronze busts of the likes of Rod Laver, Margaret Court, Roy Emerson and Evonne Goolagong bear witness to an era when Australian winners at Majors were the rule rather than the exception.
Those expectations have not been met by a homegrown Australian Open singles champion for three and a half decades, however, and in recent years the lively Melbourne crowds have had scant opportunity to cheer for local heroes.
That is unlikely to change this year, unless former US Open champion Sam Stosur suddenly overcomes the injury woes that have beset her over the past few weeks and stage fright that strikes when she plays in Australia.
Warm-up tournament victories for Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt, though, have fired up hopes that the former can fulfill his potential or the latter can enjoy one last triumphant day in the sun.
Tomic’s triumph at the Sydney International, beating South African Kevin Anderson, was probably more significant than Hewitt’s at the Kooyong Classic exhibition but, even so, it may still be a couple of years too early to talk about the 20-year-old as a potential Australian Open champion.
Tomic has thrown off the shackles of a miserable end to 2012 and started the new season with eight successive wins, including a stunning victory over world number one Novak Djokovic at the Hopman Cup. Saturday’s Sydney title success was his first on the ATP Tour and he was still basking in the afterglow when he arrived in Melbourne yesterday.
“It’s amazing. It’s very important for tennis to have a lot of confidence, so I’m really confident. I’m going to use this as much as I can for this whole tournament,” he told reporters.
“I’m playing really good tennis, feeling physically really well. That’s why I think I’ve been playing good out there.”
Tomic has a rest day today before his firstround tie against Argentine Leonardo Mayer, but most local eyes are fixed on a potential third round encounter with Roger Federer, who he played in the last 16 last year.
“I would love to get in that position to play Roger in the third round,” he said. “He has to get there as well. You don’t know what can happen. Tennis is a funny sport.”
And Tomic believes he can achieve top 10 status by year’s end. But 17-time Grand Slam champion Federer is not so sure. “I think we should go step by step, see how it goes,” said the Swiss great.
“Let’s speak in a year’s time. Everybody wants to jump from, what’s his ranking, 60, to 10 in a year. It’s hard to do. Ten is a big ask. Don’t forget how tough the top 10 players are right now.”
And Federer had more sage advice for the brash young Australian, cautioning that Tomic should only think about his first round match against Mayer. “He’s got his work cut out, you know, in the first few rounds,” he said.
“He will be making a mistake about thinking about me in the third round because he also has to get there.”
Tomic has been lauded as the next big thing in Australian tennis but former US Open and Wimbledon champion Hewitt shows no sign of letting the light flicker out easily. The 31year-old drags his battered body into a 17th consecutive Australian Open with hope renewed after Kooyong. – Reuters