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Bernard Tomic vs Sam Querrey: Brisbane International live scores, blog

5th January, 2015
Start: 9:00pm AEDT
Head to head: Tomic 2 Querrey 0
Last Meeting: Tomic – Wimbledon 2013 – 7-6 7-6 3-6 2-6 6-3
Betting: Tomic 1.67 Querrey 2.10
TV: 7Two (Live in ALL MARKETS)
Bernard Tomic has missed out on qualifying for the Australian Open. (AAP Image/Mark Dadswell)
Roar Guru
5th January, 2015
82

Bernard Tomic starts his Australian summer campaign tonight as he faces big hitting American, Sam Querrey, in the first round of the Brisbane International. Join The Roar for a live blog of the match from around 10:00pm AEDT.

After a strong finish to 2014, which included a title win in Bogota and a semi-final at Stockholm, Tomic returns to his home event looking for more success.

This year’s appearance by Tomic is his first since 2012 when he made his first ever semi-final in the ATP. He will be looking to go on a similar run this week in his return to the event.

A good run this week, and next week in Sydney, could make Tomic the number 1 Australian again.

With the latest rankings released this morning, Tomic is Australia’s new number 2, with Hewitt going from 1st to 4th.

With Tomic losing 150 points this week because of his run at the Sydney International last year, Tomic will need to score 183 points more than Kyrgios in the next two weeks to be the new number 1 before the Australian Open.

His quest to do that starts tonight against the world number 35, and American, Sam Querrey.

Querrey, who is making his 4th appearance in Brisbane, has struggled to make a mark in the event. His best appearance was last year when he made the second round of the event.

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In his other two appearances he lost in the first round. After falling to 78 in the world at the end of June, Querrey had a fantastic end to season 2014.

He won 24 of his last 27 matches for the year and made the third round of the US Open. Querrey also won three Challenger events in Napa, Sacramento and Tiburon. He will be a tough opponent for Tomic with his big power game.

Head-to-head the duo have faced each other twice in the ATP. Both matches have come at the Grand Slam level and both were won by the Australian.

At the Australian Open in 2012, Tomic won their first match in a four set encounter. In 2013, at Wimbledon, Tomic won in five sets after leading by two sets to love in the match.

While the Australian has won both matches, the contests between the two have been tight. I expect a similar contest tonight.

At times tonight both players will be on top of their opponent. This is because of the contrasting styles of each player’s game.

Querrey, who has a power game, will try to blast each ball for a winner. Tomic will use both power and precision to win points.

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At times he will hit from the baseline and try to out power his opponent. In other points he will use slice and spin in his shots to force his opponents into mistakes.

It is this variety of game that makes Tomic fascinating to watch because of his unpredictability.

It can also provide plenty of momentum shifts in the match. I expect that tonight will contain plenty of them.

This is a match Tomic can win. He will feed off the home crowd and use that to his advantage.
I predict he will win because of that.

While he may get some boos after his Australian Open retirement last year, he should still get a big lift from the crowd.

He will also be looking to make amends for that retirement which attracted plenty of media attention.

It may take three sets for Tomic to win but I expect him to start the season in style with a big win first up.

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Prediction: Bernard Tomic 2-1

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