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Bernard Tomic, assured of taking over the top ranked tennis ace of Australia, has created a worldwide sensation by becoming the youngest qualifier since Boris Becker in 1986 to reach the quarter-finals at the green lawns of SW19.
The tennis fans and experts alike will be hooked to the teen sensation when he takes on the second seed, Novak Djokovic in the first match on Court One.
Can Bernie do a Becker? Can he pull off another upset to continue his fairy tale run? Can he bring back glory to the Australian tennis?
Novak Djokovic is just two wins away from becoming the world number one and Tomic is the first hurdle that looms large over the Serb in his bid to accomplish the feat.
The 18 year old has steamrolled his opponents – yes I reiterate the word steamrolled – in three of his last four matches.
Except against Igor Andreev, Tomic has been able to demolish the top players in straight sets. Nikolay Davydenko, the world number five Robin Soderling, and Xavier Malisse are the high profile causalities of “Tomic” storm at this year’s Wimbledon championships.
The Gold Coast native is all poised to pass the litmus test of his young career when he next faces Novak Djokovic, his hitting partner in his first Slam quarter-final.
With an orthodox playing style that allows the room for improvement and variety, he has a fine serve mixed up well with slices and spins.
The 6’4” frame has been well supported by the sliced and diced forehands on the green lawns of SW19.
Only Roger Federer has been able to inflict a defeat on Novak Djokovic this season. Even the “winning machine” Rafael Nadal failed to accomplish the feat of beating Djokovic, even on clay.
With a 45-1 mark this season, the Serb would be beaming with confidence and Tomic needs to put in a herculean effort to be the youngest semi-finalist at SW19 since Becker.
But the 18 year old has nothing to lose against the second seed. He has already achieved the unexpected.
And going by the records, Novak Djokovic has a history of losing to lower ranked players- last year, it was Tomas Berdych in straight sets. Tommy Haas eliminated Djokovic in 2009 in the quarters, and in 2008 75th ranked Marat Safin eliminated Djokovic in round two.
Djokovic may be the overwhelming favourite to win against Tomic, but unpredictability is the other name of sports. Who knows, the cheers “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie”, “Olé, olé, olé”, or “Bernie, Bernie”, the traditional, clap-accompanied with “Let’s go, Bernie, let’s go” that we were treated to during his fourth round match may contribute to establishing a new order in the sport?
But for the time being, hail the new force of men’s tennis, Bernard Tomic.
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