Bernard Tomic will make his debut at Los Cabos Open when he takes on Dusan Lajovic of Serbia in the first round. The Australian had a great run at Wimbledon where he reached the fourth round before losing to Lucas Pouille in one of the tightest matches of the tournament. His first half of the year had mixed results as he started the year with a semifinal and a few quarterfinals followed by some tough losses in first rounds. However, now he is back in Mexico where he reached his first final of the year at the Mexican Open and he made it clear his goal is to win here in Los Cabos.
VAVEL USA had an exclusive sit down with Bernard Tomic before his first round match in which he talked about his confidence coming into the tournament, her physical health, the new generations of players and even the Davis Cup.
On his previous results in Mexico
Just this year, Bernard Tomic played for the second time on Mexican ground as he participated in the Mexican Open where he reached his first final of the year. In the semifinals, he played against Alexandr Dolgopolov in a fantastic match that went to three sets, thanks to that win he booked a spot in the grand final where he would play another great young player, Dominic Thiem. Despite losing the first, Tomic didn’t give up and came back to force the final into a decider in which the Austrian claimed the title. In spite of that loss, Tomic is back in Mexico and knowing that past result gives him confidence. “I played very well in Mexico, so I’m very happy I’m here [Los Cabos] for the first time,” he said before adding that some of that confidence also comes from the fact that he is pretty much the defending champion as he won Bogota the last two years. This year Los Cabos replaces Bogota which means Tomic could aim to win the tournament three times. “I’m defending the tournament from Colombia where I won two times, but it’s a very different tournament here this week. We’ll see, I have to play good this week.”
Nevertheless, Tomic is aware that just because he won in Bogota means he’s going to win here. He is also aware of the differences between the two tournaments. “Bogota was 3,000 meters in altitude and in here is sea level. It’s so different, a completely different tournament but I will still try to play my best tennis,” he said before speaking about the things he likes the most about Mexico. “It’s so different, I mean, I’m from Australia and I grew up with the beach and warm weather, so here is very hot, very beachy and I enjoy this.”
On his confidence coming into this tournament
After Wimbledon, Tomic participated in two more tournaments: Citi Open and Rogers Cup. His results were not what he would have expected as he fell in the third round of the Citi Open to Ivo Karlovic. While in Toronto he also failed to reach the quarterfinals as he lost to Kevin Anderson. “I was in Miami for ten days, training, resting, and I’m very very fresh so, I’m excited to be here this week,” he said when asked about his current form.
Tomic will play his first match against Dusan Lajovic of Serbian who defeated Thiago Monteiro in straight sets. They have never played before which could be tricky for the Australian as he doesn’t really know his rival. However, Tomic will go out there as the favorite as he is also the second seed. This doesn’t mean that he isn’t aware that every player is dangerous, he knows he could easily have a tough first round and believes he needs to be prepared for whatever happens. “Everybody is a threat. You can play in the second round and play a tough match and then have an easy quarterfinal. It doesn’t matter if you are number one like Djokovic, you can lose after playing one match.”
On the next generation of players
Tomic, who is 23 years old, is part of the next generation of players in the ATP. He has been under the radar of many tennis fans as he is always a dangerous player, since a young age he became a promise for the ATP. In the last years, many have doubted of him but there’s no question that Tomic is back and he is eager to win matches and titles. He knows the competition is not easy, now he not only has to compete with players like Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer. There’s a whole new generation of players around his age that are already making headlines around the world. Among those names, there’s Dominic Thiem and just like mentioned before they gave us a glimpse of what is next for the tennis world at the Acapulco final earlier this year.
A few years ago we could talk about a few upcoming players like Grigor Dimitrov and of course, Bernard Tomic. Now we could easily add more players to that list like Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Lucas Pouille and Nick Kyrgios. “We all play well. Nick won his second title in Atlanta and I congratulated him. There are also many players that play well like Thiem, and we all are coming through now. There’s a chance that maybe in five or six years we can all be in the top eight,” he said when asked about this new generation and the possibility to be like the Big Four.
On his decision to skip the Olympics and his expectations for this week
However, not everything has been easy for Tomic who earlier this year made headlines for his decision to skip the Olympics and then for an alleged dispute with his teammate, Nick Kyrgios. Still, when asked about it Tomic has nothing but kind words for his Davis Cup team, including Kyrgios and for its captain, former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt. “My relationship with the Davis Cup is good, the coach is Lleyton Hewitt and his in charge of the Davis Cup but of course, I skipped the Olympics, but I’m here and I want to win this tournament because it’s a beautiful place and beautiful tournament.”
Just because he didn’t go to the Olympics doesn’t mean Tomic won’t play for Australia again. He assured us that playing the Davis Cup will always be in his plans. “I play the Davis Cup always and the team is good, so I have to always play. I always enjoy playing for my team,” he said before adding that having Lleyton Hewitt there is a great addition to the team. “I’m happy he is the captain because he’s a legend.”
Lastly, when asked about his expectations for this tournament he was very direct in his answer. “I want to win, that’s my goal. I’m here to win and give a hundred percent,” he concluded.