Tomic keeps a cool head after Fish scalp

 

Originally published on: 12/10/11 10:40

He may be of Croatian stock and born in Stuttgart but despite his colourful background, Bernard Tomic remains every inch the chilled out Aussie. All 6’4″ of him.

Unfazed at being the highest-ranked teen on the men’s tour after breaking into the top 50 last week, the world No.49 proved typically relaxed after his latest win.

A week after losing to Mardy Fish in the quarter-finals in Tokyo, the 18-year-old took revenge on the world No.9 at the Shanghai Rolex Masters with a 4-6 6-1 6-4 victory in just under two hours.

“It’s been a good year,” said Tomic, simply. “I can’t expect much more from myself. I’ve had a good six months.”

The Gold Coast resident stepped up his form at Wimbledon this year when he became the youngest player to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since Boris Becker in 1986, beating world No.5 Robin Soderling along the way.

Tomic defeated Kevin Anderson in the first round at the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai, and with a third round clash against either 12th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov or Albert Ramos next on the agenda, Tomic is in confident mood.

“I’m playing well here. The surface, conditions suit me. I think it’s been a good run. I’ve got to play well now in the third round. I think I’ve got a lot more to improve in the next few years.”

As a junior, Tomic boldly stated his intention to top the world rankings and win Grand Slams, but made a conscious move to enjoy his time on court, hoping the rewards will follow.

“I don’t think I should set targets because when you set goals, things change, things happen,” reasoned Tomic. “I think you’ve just got to play tennis, have fun, not have a lot of pressure. In the juniors, everything was under a lot of stress and you’d play. But if you have fun, good things happen.”

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