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For the second time in a month, Bernard Tomic will take on Jan-Lennard Struff, as the duo battle each other in the first round of Wimbledon.
Join The Roar for live scores of the match from around 10:30pm AEST or after the match between Thanasi Kokkinakis and Leonardo Mayer.
Three weeks ago, at the Stuttgart ATP event, Tomic would defeat Struff in straight sets on his way to a loss to Rafael Nadal in the quarter finals.
Now they face each other again in the first round at Wimbledon, with Tomic having a great record at the venue. In six appearances, including five main draws, Tomic has won eight matches including a quarter final appearance at 2011.
In four of those losses, Tomic has lost to top ten players. In 2013 and 2014 he was beaten by Tomas Berdych. This year he is a seed for the second time in his Wimbledon career.
In 2012, as the 20th seed, Tomic would be beaten by David Goffin in four sets in the opening round.
He will be hoping to avoid a similar upset result today against Struff. Tomic, if he can get past Struff, has a good run to Round 3 where a battle with Novak Djokovic looms.
That would improve on his 2014 performance here – when he made the second round – and also help his ranking.
Currently at 26, he is around his highest ranking, which was 24 at the start of this month. The focus though will be on today’s match against Struff.
In the encounter, earlier this month, Tomic served flawlessly to pressurise Struff into mistakes. He gained an early break, and gave nothing on his serve, to take the first set 6-3.
In a closer second set, which went to a tiebreaker, Tomic would survive and win in straight sets. That match in Germany was decided by the serve, and it looks to be pivotal again today.
Both have big serves that gives them plenty of free points. Whoever can serve well, and create break point chances on the other serve, will most likely win the match today.
This match from Tomic looks similar to a clash at the 2013 Australian Open against Daniel Brands in the second round.
That match, which was won by the Aussie, had three tiebreakers and one set won with a 7-5 score line.
On that day the serve ruled the match, as neither player got a look in, with both players combining for 49 aces and plenty of easy winners.
This match looks to be a similar one to that occasion and Struff is not without a chance to win.
If he can win a couple of tiebreakers, then the pressure will really be on Tomic, who is the favourite.
When you combine this with the off-field issues for the team, after Tomic opted to miss the Davis Cup quarter final because of a feud between his father and Tennis Australia, it really is a danger match for the Queenslander.
The Aussie should still win the match, with relative ease, but he could face some tense moments.
It will be closer than people think.
Prediction – Tomic 3-1
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