Bernard Tomic should have disposed of Italian Simone Bolelli in straight sets in the second round of the Australian Open at Margaret Court Arena on Thursday night, but he wound up having to dodge a bullet after taking his foot off the pedal.
Tomic breezed through the opening two sets and it seemed a fait accompli that he would cruise through to the next round without dropping a set, but the tide of the match turned and he ended up having to stay on court for over three exhausting hours to seal a 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 victory that sets up an all-Australian encounter with John Millman.
The tough end to the match was partly to do with Bolelli fighting attitude, who had to battle under duress, twice asking for attention from the medical officer, and part Tomic failing to slam the door shut.
Tomic needed to be more ruthless when he had Bolelli backed into the corner and he knows it.
In the past, Tomic might have made excuses, but in what is a sign of maturity, he owned up, confessed his sins and can move on to his next mission.
“It just shows you, you give someone back a little bit and it can turn the whole match around and maybe you can lose a match like this,” Tomic said.
“You learn stuff all the time when you win or lose matches like this. I’m happy I won in the end. I learnt now it’s time to do something different and focus more.”
It was a real pity for Tomic to have to expend so much energy eliminating Bolelli after having so much control for the opening two sets.
Bolelli has reached a career high ranking of 36, so he is no slouch, but that was seven long years ago.
Still, the 30-year-old was up for the fight, and what impact the extra set has on Tomic’s campaign going forward remains to be seen.
Tomic was looking on the bright side.
“It didn’t go five [sets], it went four, but it was a tough four,” he said. “I got to do recovery. I feel physically good.”
If Tomic needs any positive reinforcement, he needs to just go and watch the tape of his first two sets.
While some of the fans might have felt short-changed about missing out on Lleyton Hewitt’s farewell party, Tomic did his utmost to make it a memorable night for the spectators.
Tomic’s ball striking was immaculate – be it on the backhand side where his trademark slice backhand would hit a 10-cent piece on the opposite baseline to his double handed backhand that came out for extra oomph on his winners, or his forehand side where he produced a number of telling blows.
Tomic was a man at the top of his game, well, for two sets, showing the kind of form that would give him every chance of going deep into the tournament.
It sets up a mouth-watering all-Aussie third round between Tomic and Millman.
Tomic is expecting a different type of battle with Millman, who beat Gilles Muller in an epic five-setter to advance.
“I think I played huge hitters now in the first round, second round, guys that hit the ball amazing,” Tomic said. “[It’s a] different match up with John, he’s more of a competitor on every ball, he tries to fight for every point. Obviously probably not as talented as the guys I played, but he works every point, makes a lot of balls. It’s not easy playing a player like this. I have to come out playing my tennis.”
