The last man standing for the home nation is out of the 2016 Australian Open.
Bernard Tomic was Australia’s final domino to fall in the men’s singles after being out-classed 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-4) by Great Britain’s Andy Murray at a packed Rod Laver Arena on Monday night.
Tomic had a nice Open run, collecting wins on the three main courts at Melbourne Park along the way.
The 16th seed came back from a set down to beat Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in first round, had a four-set arm wrestle with Italy’s Simone Bolelli in the second round and cruised to a straight sets victory over compatriot John Millman last start.
But Tomic’s run was brought to an end by Murray, a former US Open and Wimbledon champion, a four-time Open runner-up and fresh off a Davis Cup triumph.
Murray is simply on another level compared to the opponents Tomic had faced earlier in the tournament and the young Aussie was out of his depth.
“He just frustrates you so much, Andy,” Tomic, 23, said. “He’s so fit, so ready for every ball, so he gets back everything.
“It’s just amazing what he gets back and it just shocks you. I go for more [attacking shots] against other players I’m dominant over, I feel comfortable, against him, you just don’t, that’s why he’s one of the best players in the world. For me to get there, I need to work very hard.”
The signs were bad for Tomic from the outset.
Serving in blustery conditions, the 17th ranked Tomic dropped the first game of the match, and was quickly down 2-0 in the first set.
Tomic broke back, but immediately after doing so, he lost momentum when his own serve broken again.
Murray needed no second invitation and went on to take out the set.
It was a similar tale for the rest of the match with Tomic let down by his serve.
In fact, he was broken again in the first game of the second set, which immediately put him on the back foot.
Tomic conceded that his ineffective serve was a major issue for him.
“I just felt like I didn’t serve as good as I would like to, but he does return a lot better than any other player I’ve faced here at the Australian Open,” Tomic said.
“So, it’s tough serving as well when you know you’ve got that momentum coming back. He’s an unbelievable returner. I just felt like, yeah, it was a very close match, but I couldn’t capitalise on my service game.”
At no stage did Tomic wave the white flag. He made Murray – who had to cover 2.8km on court – earn his passage through to the last eight.
Murray will meet Spain’s David Ferrer in a tasty quarter final.
Tomic has been thrilled with his early-year form and is soon heading to the US to prepare for upcoming ATP tournaments.
“I’ve been playing fantastic tennis the last month,” Tomic said. “Continuing what I did last 2015, so I’m very pleased. I’ll move on next preparation block and getting ready for more tournaments. I’m very excited for the challenge.”
