Tomic the Tank Engine

I'm probably infringing/destroying some copyright law with the title of the blog post but a quick google search showed me that it isn't as original as I first thought.

Just a brief post following on from my Wasted Youth post regarding Bernard Tomic's complete collapse the other day against Florian Mayer. On a tangent Mayer somehow busted a rib between exercising in the gym with Andy Murray (had to fit him in to this somehow) earlier in the day and going out on court. Anyway, back to Tomic who for a long time I have thought is wasting his talent by not trying hard enough. The other day he finally opened up about some of the reasons why he has been so mediocre this year. I think it is an interesting view into his and perhaps other younger player’s mindsets and whislt I don’t care much for his attitude, as a person I’m finding myself respecting him ever so slightly more. After declaring that he only gave "85% effort" he went on to say (paraphrased): 

Today I gave 100 per cent in the first set. I felt in the second set, my 100 per cent wasn't even close to where it should be. That's where I think mentally... the mental skill is one of my biggest problems.

It's been a long year. I played a lot of tournaments. I think I only rested one week after Roland Garros. I think it was the wrong sort of move that I made. I think it's costing me now, the last few months. My performance has not been as good. It's been a massive road this year. I didn't plan my schedule as I should have and it's cost me a lot of matches that I probably should have won.

I haven't had time to rest. I think it's costing me now the last few months. My performance has not been as good. Obviously I'm learning. It's all tough. There's a lot of things thrown at you. I feel last year was a different year. I wasn't expected to do good. That's where I came inside the top 40 at the age of 18. That's where I proved I can play. 'This year has been a little bit different. It's been defending points, defending stuff. I started feeling the pressure. I wasn't prone to pressure growing up. Now I think it's starting to hit me the last five, six months. It's costing me. It's been a massive road this year.

I still think that fatigue isn’t entirely to blame and that unless he can find the desire to win that the likes of Murray and Nadal possess then he’ll never be better than your average top 20 player and that will be a shame. The way he destroyed Potito Starace on Margaret Court Arena back in 2009 was simply breathtaking.