Australian Open: Looking for the next super star in the men’s tennis - Part 1
The Australian Open looms and the season starts. World number one Rafael Nadal is ready to set history by completing his calender Grand Slam whereas the Swiss tennis maestro, Roger Federer, on the other hand is also all set to thwart him.
Del Porto, the Argentinean, is making a comeback on the tour while Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic both are healthy and fit. The top ranked American, Andy Roddick has kicked his kissing disease and Robin Soderling, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych are all motivated
and confident to begin the year in Melbourne.
Therefore, 2011 definitely appears to be another phenomenal season in men’s tennis.
The year’s opening Grand Slam, Australian Open, has often been a competition where new contenders first reach worldwide recognition. Yet even with such an improved system as the junior rankings it is still seldom that the upcoming superstar is predictable.
One would say that the contenders like Roger and Rafael would have shown brightly however they didn’t. The Spaniard tennis ace Rafael Nadal burst on the scene and Roger, though known, just had a single junior major before becoming, well, Federer. However,
for every junior major that the Swiss won there were couple of winners that came to the naught.
While looking at the confused picture of the international junior contenders who will next join the ranks of the elite, two names have won everyone’s heart due to their talent and sporting flair; Bernard Tomic of Australia and Ryan Harrison from the United
States of America.
Tomic has been widely considered as the next big thing in the men’s game of tennis. The right hander is cocky, brash and extremely talented without any question. The eighteen year old teenager as a junior, won a couple of tournaments including two Orange
Bowls back in 2004 and 2006 and two junior majors, the United States Open in 2008 and Australian Open last year. The Croatian born has a huge serve, flat forehand and a tricky game to read.
Tomic’s most notable clash to date was a five setter defeat at the hands of Marin Cilic at the 2010 Australian Open.
"He is very uncomfortable to play, he serves good and hits a lot of flat balls. I think he is going to be a tough player to play in the future," said Marin after the match.
To date, Tomic is gaining popularity not only due to his game but also as a result of his overall attitude. The Australian last year in March, was suspended for walking off court during a battle. Then he refused to play with Lleyton Hewitt saying, “Lleyton's
not good enough”.
In his defeat to Marin during a night match, Tomic said that it was ridiculous for a seventeen year old playing so late.
However, all this is simply due to his immaturity that comes with being a prodigious talent.
As far as his talent is concerned, there is no doubt what so ever in any one’s mind without any question. However, Tomic along with other young contenders must learn that they can not expect to win on talent alone as players at this level of game are all
highly gifted and skilled.
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