Bernard Tomic was regarded as the next big thing in tennis after he reached the Wimbledon quarter finals aged eighteen. He was the youngest player to achieve this since Boris Becker in 1985. Tomic then went on to reach the fourth round of the 2012 Australian Open, which helped him reach number twenty seven in the world rankings. However since then he has barely been able to string two wins together. This means Tomic will end the year as Australia’s number two ranked player behind Marinko Matosevic and outside of the top fifty. Where has it gone wrong for the youngster?

Tomic had a very promising junior career in which he won two junior Grand Slams, the 2008 Australian Open and the 2009 U.S Open. His triumph in 2008 was when he was just fifteen, the youngest ever player to win a junior Grand Slam. Tomic also reached number two in the junior world rankings and seemed set to make a big impact on the men’s tour. He actually began playing some matches on the men’s tour aged just fifteen and in 2009 at sixteen he became the youngest ever male to win a senior match at the Australian Open. Tomic then moved steadily up the rankings until 2011 which was his breakout year.

He opened 2011 with his best showing at the Australian Open, making the third round before losing to Nadal. He then qualified for Wimbledon where he upset former world number three Davydenko in the first round. He then came back from two sets down to beat Andreev in his next match before shocking everyone by beating fifth seed Soderling in the third round. After beating Malisse in the fourth round he fell to the eventual champion Djokovic in four sets. This tournament boosted his ranking by eighty seven places and Tomic now sat at seventy one in the world. A solid end to the 2011 season saw him reach the top fifty.

 Tomic entered the 2012 Australian Open with the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders. He defeated three quality opponents in Verdasco, Querrey and Dolgopolov to reach the fourth round, where he lost to Federer. Since then Tomic has only won two matches in a row on four occasions and lost seven matches in a row at one point. However it isn’t just the losses that are disappointing, Tomic’s behaviour on and off the court has caused a lot of controversy. This behaviour dates back to Tomic’s days as a junior. In 2007 Tennis Australia cut his funding due to a perceived lack of effort in a match and in 2009 the ITF suspended him for a month after he walked off a court mid game. Later on in 2009 he infuriated Lleyton Hewitt by turning down an opportunity to practice with him at Wimbledon. Tomic’s agent said “Lleyton’s not good enough” which is an extraordinary statement to make about a former world number one and ex Wimbledon Champion. This feud has since ended, however surley it should never have begun. Tomic’s effort on court has also been called into question more recently. In the 2012 U.S Open he lost 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 to Andy Roddick and was accused by John McEnroe of “tanking it” which has earned him the nickname ‘Tomic the Tank Engine’. His last two matches of the 2012 season will not help him get rid of this nickname; losing 6-4, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-2 in the first rounds of Shanghai and Paris respectively. In both matches Tomic spent less than an hour on the court.

More worrying is Tomic’s behaviour off court which include a couple of run-ins with the Australian police. In January 2012 he received enough points in one day to lose his driving licence, he then locked himself in his house and accused the police of harassing him because “you think I’m not Australian”. His latest controversy is an alleged brawl involving a male friend on a penthouse balcony at 5.30am on the 29th October.

There is no question that Tomic has the talent to succeed. Also he has only just turned twenty, so time is on his side. Fellow players also believe he has the tools to do well, Djokovic recently said “he can be one of the top players. It’s just a matter of obviously him believing in that and also working hard”. Many tennis experts have also said Tomic needs to put a lot more work into his training, they also suggest that he needs to replace his father as his coach. Roger Rasheed, who recently started coaching Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, added “if he wants to keep excelling he gets a legitimate coach”.

The end of the 2012 season couldn’t come quickly enough for Bernard Tomic. He now has some time off to sort his game out, and perhaps more importantly his attitude, before starting next season in Australia full of hope. It remains to be seen whether he can turn this slide around or if ‘Tomic the Tank engine’ will be derailed. 

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