Bernard Tomic: “I Consider Myself Very Smart And Tactical”

by Staff | January 18th, 2012, 8:42 am
  • 18 Comments

The story thus far at the 2012 Australian Open has been local favorite Bernard Tomic. The Australian captured the nation Monday with a rousing two set comeback over Fernando Verdasco in the first round. On Wednesday, the 19-year-old sleak-swinger confirmed that win by ousting American Sam Querrey in four sets.

Tomic now plays the “weird” Alexandr Dolgopolov and if he wins he might very clash with Roger Federer on Sunday in Melbourne.

Bernard spoke to the media after his win over Querrey:


Q. Came out serving very hard. What do you think you were able to do to turn it around after that?
BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, very, very difficult to really serve. It was tough because he was hitting his forehand well. And, yeah, not only getting his serve back was hard, he was hitting the forehand big. You know, it’s tough when you have to get the serve back into the backhand court and always end there and not just get it back into play. I think I didn’t play as good as I did in the first, but all credit to him. That first set was really, really good serving from him.

Q. Did you sort of do anything technically in particular to change that and get the win?
BERNARD TOMIC: No. I think I was guessing the wrong way in the first set, and second set I started guessing the right way and, you know, he started missing a lot more first serves. It gave me chances to break him a few more times. The third and fourth set he was serving well, as well.

Q. Are you getting so comfortable on Rod Laver Arena that it might be a bit of a disappointment if you might have to play a match somewhere else in this championship?
BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, I’m getting comfortable after three or four years of losing on that court. (Laughter.) It’s finally ‑‑ you know, I thought I was going to lose that first round, so I thought I was going to lose another match and have to wait another year to win a match. I was happy to win that first round. Now to win the second and play, you know, well, and come back from another set behind was really good.

Q. You played in daytime in the heat, and then you played tonight, cooler. How do you adjust your game to allow for the different conditions?
BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, it’s very difficult playing in the heat and playing at night. Totally different ball game. I think, you know, during the day you’ve got to survive. You’re not only playing the player, you’re playing the heat as well. At night it’s a bit slower and bit colder and a bit more wind, so it’s a bit more difficult. But you got to learn to adapt, and a whatever you get thrown at you you have to learn to deal with it.

Q. What advantage is it knowing you’re going to play 7:00 on an evening schedule?
BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, you get the timing right is very good. You know, you know when you’re scheduled to play so it’s a good thing. You prepare well pretty much all day for the start at 7:00.

Q. How did it feel yesterday after the marathon? Pretty good?
BERNARD TOMIC: Um, when I woke up I was feeling a little bit tired. You know, yesterday during the day I tried to recover, which, you know, was all right. I woke up feeling, you know, 80, 90% in the morning, so today I knew by tonight I’d be ready to go.

Q. Alexandr has give you trouble in the past. What exactly is it that you have trouble with him?
BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, no, I’ve played him a few times. I think, you know, last year in Sydney I won 7‑6, 0‑6, 6‑2, and same the story in Shanghai. Third round last year I won 7‑5 and lost 6‑1, 6‑1.

So it’s very tough and weird scorelines. He’s a very difficult player to play. I think he doesn’t like my game. I don’t like his. So it’s very difficult. He is a very good player, and a lot of people struggle with him. All I’ve got to do is smart things when I play him. I think the last few times I’ve played him I didn’t do the right thing after winning the first set.

Q. In that Shanghai match you seemed so frustrated that you just kind of seemed to go away in it. Did you feel that way? How do you not do that this time?
BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, well, the funny thing is I was playing well in Shanghai. Then it started raining and we got moved indoors, and we got moved into a lightning‑fast court with no space behind to move. It was very difficult. And playing a player that’s very weird in a weird court when it was supposed to be on an outside court was difficult for me. I won that first set there but, he seems to play good tennis and bad tennis for a set. So it’s very difficult. You have to just hold your game against him and hope for the best. You can play really good and you can’t do nothing sometimes.

Q. Do you consider yourself a streaky player at all?
BERNARD TOMIC: I consider myself very smart and tactical, so it’s a good thing, you know. I know where to get balls ‑‑ balls to the opponents, but I don’t ‑‑ like where I can create, you know, good shots for me. As opposed to him, I think it’s a very, very, you know, he’s very unco and very weird to play, and I’m sure a lot of players say the same thing about him.

Q. Jelena Jankovic said you two had talked in Brisbane about playing mixed doubles here, but I don’t think you signed up for it. What happened there?
BERNARD TOMIC: Did I? I didn’t know about that.

Q. You didn’t talk to her in Brisbane?
BERNARD TOMIC: I talked to her. Maybe I forgot to sign in. She’ll kill me for that. She told me to sign in. I didn’t sign in. Whoa, thanks for reminding me. (Laughter.) Gee, I knew I forgot something the last few weeks.

Q. You said the other day that you had the feeling you could take the match whenever you needed to. Did you have that feeling today?
BERNARD TOMIC: I did after the second set. The first set was very strange. He played very good, and I started questioning myself if he’s going to keep serving and playing like this whether I have a chance.

But I got lucky, and he didn’t serve as good in the second. He gave me confidence.

Q. Would you prefer a day match for the next one?
BERNARD TOMIC: I’d prefer night, the slower conditions, against him. We’ll see.

Q. Can you just compare how you’re feeling compared to this time last year?
BERNARD TOMIC: One year older. (Laughter.) You know, it’s the same feeling, same, you know, round. You know, it’s no Nadal, so I think it’s okay. Better chance than last year.


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18 Comments for Bernard Tomic: “I Consider Myself Very Smart And Tactical”

jane Says:

He seems honest. But what does “unco” mean? Is it Oz slang or something?


jane Says:

Ah, got it. Yeah, Dolgo is rather uncanny, surprising etc.


jane Says:

Ah, got it. Yeah, Dolgo is rather uncanny, surprising etc.


roy Says:

playing soft balls, many straight up the middle isn’t ‘tactical’ genius. and when you do that against guys like federer,nadal,djoker etc, it simply allows them to dictate with huge forehands and you will be carved up.
particularly when you are slow and have relatively poor defense.


margot Says:

“unconventional” isn’t it?


jane Says:

margot, apparently it’s from Scots, etymologically speaking. I’d never heard of it! My desktop dictionary says unusual, remarkable, uncannily surprising. But unconventional makes sense, in that it’s just a shortened version thereof. Words are so interesting. :)


van orten Says:

am really looking forward to a possible fed tomic encounter !!!! fed will show little tomic who is smart and tactical hahahahaha just kidding he is a young kid so i kinda like his interviews


Lou Says:

I have completely become a fan of this talented player from Australia. What was more fascinating was to watch his mental strength more than his physical strength. Never once I saw him getting tensed, he played like a silent tiger ready to pounce upon his opponent when required. Just brilliant! He is the future of tennis : no doubt about it-http://bit.ly/ApT7ms


Ajet Says:

This tomic is scary! He’s so confident and has so much faith in his ability! I wouldn’t be surprised if he springs any big surprise here, I mean even stopping fed from advancing, should they meet each other! I dunno whom to support between tomic and dolgo! Though I lke tomic way more for his mental strength and cockiness, yet I fear rooting for him may be costly as he’d be much more dangerous for Fed than Dolgo, coz tomic, I can clearly see as a slam material!!


Charles Says:

Unco is aussie slang for unco-ordinated! Finally something to contribute to this forum from me haha


Humble Rafa Says:

Unco is aussie slang for unco-ordinated! Finally something to contribute to this forum from me haha
—-
I have something to contribute too. When you hear me say “puta”..it is not a good word.


Wog boy Says:

Humble Rafa, nice Italian language :-)


S Green Says:

Who is more weirdo, Luke Johnson, the Staff-editor and owner of this dysfunctional blog called Tennis-X, or Dolgo, an accomplished player?

Weirdo vs. weirdo (Tomic vs. Dolgo) is a double negative, though, that should cancel out most traces of weirdness. We will find out. (on a side note, Dolgo has 3-0 against Tomic, two of which in 2011, but the Aussie is a different player this year, so who knows?)

I like almost all weirdos, including Luke who does pretty good job in keeping alive his weirdness on this blog, thus helps the cause of weirdness in general. Thank you, Luke.

Jane, if you happened to read this, I was long asleep by the time Tomic-Querrey played (now I live in the East coast, remember?). I watched some of the recorded this afternoon, though.

Direct TV has 6 channels for tennis, but only 1 of them has men’s tennis at this time, the other 5 for ladies, and this has happened 2 days in a row. I had to watch Delpo’s match yesterday on ESPN3 online. I do not like this kind of weirdness (one of the exceptions).

Djoko-Giraldo should be competitive in contrast to cake walk for Murray against Roger-Vasselin.


Daniel Says:

HR on fire so far…! :)


steve-o Says:

I don’t expect a competitive match for Djokovic until the quarterfinals. And by “competitive”, I mean the opponent wins more than seven games. He is cruising like last year.


S Green Says:

steve-o,
I should have said “relatively competitive,” in the sense of relative to Murray-Vasselin match. But, hey, Giraldo may very well achieve your 7 game+ mark.


Michael Says:

You should never heap praise on yourself. Let others say that.

Having said that, I agree that for your age you are a smart and tactical player with a good potential for future.


Steve 27 Says:

I think Raonic could be take a set to Djoko, but sincerelt Murray will be his fist grat opponent if the scotish pass Tsonga. I think Nadal and the serb will be in semifinals for sure. However Murray vs Tsonga and Federer vs Del Potro in quarterfinals definetely could be for everyone.

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