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Tomic is lacking clarity in the mind

Bernard Tomic takes on Lucas Pouille in the fourth round at Wimbledon. (AAP)
Roar Guru
27th June, 2012
9

Bernard Tomic’s first round exit from Wimbledon has taken many people by surprise, including myself. Many people, not just in Australia, but also around the world expected him to at least challenge his quarter final appearence of last year.

This is not only because of his technical ability, but more importantly because he has usually defended his points from each Grand Slam he has competed in from year to year.

Tomic is lacking clarity in the mind, which was shown in his loss to David Goffin. Tomic is the most naturally gifted player of the two, there is no doubt.

However, for all the shots and skills that he has at his disposal, Tomic struggles to put his game together on a consistent basis, resulting in many disappointing results on tour recently and many people questioning his ability to reach the top of the men’s game.

His mindset and temperament is similar to Roger Federer when he was younger. Federer, in 2001, made the quarter finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon, but in 2002 he was knocked out in the first round of both the French and Wimbledon.

In the French Open run in 2001, Federer defeated Stefano Galvani, Sargis Sargsian, David Sanchez and Wayne Arthurs before being defeated by Alex Corretja.

In the Wimbledon run in 2001, Federer defeated Christophe Rochus, Xavier Malisse, Jonas Bjorkman and famously Pete Sampras before being defeated by Tim Henman. In 2002, he was defeated by Hicham Arazi and Mario Ancic at the French Open and Wimbledon respectively.

Tomic’s 2011 Wimbledon run included wins over Nikolay Davydenko, Igor Andreev, Robin Soderling and Xavier Malisse before being defeated by eventual champion Novak Djokovic. In 2012, he was defeated by David Goffin in the opening round at Wimbledon, marking the worst performance by the Australian men at Wimbledon since 1938.

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I think Tomic will be a top player within a year or two if he focuses on his endurance, which will fix and improve his mental clarity, and improve his explosive power in his legs, which will improve his movement around the court, as well as helping him get more out of his serving performance.

If he does this, Tomic will reach the levels we have expected of him. With the talent and ability he has got, Tomic is too good not to reach the levels we have expected of him at some point within the next year or two.

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