A lot has been expected of Bernard Tomic ever since he was a junior sensation. While great things are still expected of the current world number 17, patience is starting to wear thin. After all, Tomic reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal almost six years ago and has not gone that far since.
A former Grand Slam champion has now weighed in on Tomic’s progress. 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic believes that Tomic is capable of greater success on the ATP World Tour, but something will have to change before that happens.
Arrested Development
Like most experts and former players, Ivanisevic had high expectations of Tomic. He believed that Tomic was a star in the making. However, like most pundits, Ivanisevic is frustrated with Tomic’s progress or lack thereof.
“I always said that Bernard is a guy who should be top 10 a long time ago. If Bernard can be serious like he's serious during these couple of tournaments in Australia even for half of the year, he'll be Top - 10.”
Tomic won a pair of junior Grand Slams in 2008 and 2009. As an 18-year-old, he reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2011 and even took a set off of eventual champion Novak Djokovic. It appeared that Tomic was well on his way to stardom. However, his results quickly tailed off and the Aussie has not reached the quarterfinals of a major again.
Look Beyond Australia
Ivanisevic believes that part of the problem for Tomic is that he only cares about winning on home soil. Tomic has traditionally played his best tennis on home soil, including his first career title in Sydney back in 2013. He has also made the fourth round twice at the Australian Open.
“I don't know why he's trying 200 per cent only in Australia. He is such a talented player. He has a game that nobody likes. He's got much more serious ahead of the last year and hopefully he's going to improve more and more."
Ivanisevic is definitely correct. Tomic’s results need to improve outside of Australia. While he has a pair of titles in Colombia, he has never reached a final outside of Australian other than that tournament in Bogota. He only seems to play consistent tennis when playing in front of his home crowd. If he wants to be a top ten player, his results need to improve away from the "Land Down Under."