Bernard Tomic Says He’s Fitter Than Players In The Top 10

A firestorm always seems to follow Bernard Tomic. Lately, the Australian press has focused on Tomic’s fitness, or lack thereof, after former pro John Fitzgerald criticised the 24-year-old on his weight.

“He’s had some good Australian Opens, but I think he could be fitter, and what confuses me is that he has just lost four-and-a-half kilos when prior to that he said he was fitter than he had ever been,” Fitzgerald said earlier this week. “So I’m a little confused by that and I’m not convinced he’s fit enough for the top level.”

Today, in press, Tomic fired back, alleging he’s fitter than some players in the Top 10!

“I think honestly, if I can say there are 50 people fitter than me outside of the top 70 to 150 in the world. There are some players not as fit as me inside the top 10, 15 in the world,” Tomic said.

“Will fitness help them? I don’t think so. I feel obviously the big servers, Isner, Raonic, Kyrgios, Karlovic are there. I don’t think fitness can help them.

“I think there are many fitter players than me that are outside the top 100 in the world. I think we can skip this question.”

Tomic, who’s made the Australian Open fourth round three of the last five years, was delt a tough draw against Brazilian lefty Thomaz Bellucci on Monday.

“He’s very intense,” Tomic said of Bellucci. “He’s beaten a lot of top players. I think he’s reached almost top 20 in the world, won multiple titles. For me he’s a top 10, 15 player on clay. It’s going to be tough.

“His ranking now is 60, 70. He’s one of those players, where he’s playing well, he’s not an easy player to play.”

Ranked No. 27, Tomic still expects to be a Top 10 player some day.

“My goal is to get to top 10 and stay there many years,” Tomic said. “You have to work for this. It’s not going to happen overnight.

“I think there are a lot of good players in the top 20, top 30 that are top-10 players. You got to get there. You got to earn it. Whether it comes like that or in four, five years, you know, you obviously are going to get your chance. If you’re consistent, you work hard, do the right things, you have a big chance at this.”

Just 24, Tomic is playing in his ninth Australian Open.