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Tomic 6-1, 6-2
It was a walk in the park for Tomic today as he secures his place in the next round in well under an hour. Sijsling just didn’t ask any questions of Tomic and the Australian dominated in every facet of the game. Tougher challenge coming up though as he takes on the German Phillip Koelscreiber.
Bernard Tomic has a strong record at the Apia International and will be favoured to continue his good form in Sydney when he plays Igor Sijsling today. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 3:00pm AEDT
After being outplayed by Kei Nishikori at the Brisbane International, Tomic is back in action against an opponent he last met at a Challenger event back in 2009.
While Sijsling won their only previous encounter on the Challenger circuit, Tomic is by far the more established player on the ATP tour and starts a heavy favourite against the Dutch player this afternoon.
If recent history is anything to go by, Tomic is difficult to beat at the Apia International. He won this tournament two years ago after defeating Kevin Anderson in the final. Tomic would go on and make the final again a year later but was humbled by Juan Martin del Potro.
Having already defeated Sam Querrey and Thanasi Kokkinakis this season, Tomic has two good wins under his belt. His convincing defeat to Nishikori however does prove that the young Australian has a long way to go if he hopes to match the very best players on tour.
For a player of Tomic’s physical stature, he doesn’t generate as much power off the forehand and backhand side compared to players of similar height. Tomic has the potential to generate plenty of power but it appears that he holds himself back at times.
Such a tactic proved his undoing against Nishikori. Tomic used the slice plenty of times against the Japanese star, only to be put on the back foot by Nishikori’s aggressive shot-making.
If Tomic is to take that next step, he has to start playing with more aggression. He needs to serve bigger, particularly on second serve which is a major weakness.
If he can play to his potential, Tomic should win today and once again progress deep into the tournament.
Tomic in straight sets.