Novak Djokovic vs Bernard Tomic – Quarterfinal Preview: Wimbledon Championships 2011
Djoker may have his work cut out for him as he takes on surprising Australian youngster, Bernard Tomic in their quarterfinal match at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Wednesday, 29th June.
An unstoppable force in the current ATP season, Djokovic already holds seven titles to date with only one loss. Starting the year at the season opening Grand Slam, the Australian Open, Djokovic enjoyed back to back wins against Roger Federer and top Brit Andy Murray to clinch his career second Grand Slam title. What is a pinnacle to most was only the starting point for the young Serb as he rose even higher clinching four Masters Series title. Defeating Rafael Nadal in the title match of all four of them, Djokovic won the title at Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Rome. He also sneaked in a home title at Belgrade. Sporting a 45-1 win loss record for the season, Djoker’s only loss came in the semi-final of the 2011 Roland Garros against Federer.
Coming into the third Grand Slam of the season, the Wimbledon Championships, Djoker is contesting in his seventh year here with three semi-final appearances (2007-08, 2010) and an impressive 25-7 win loss record. Dropping only one set, Djokovic moved past Jeremy Chardy, Kevin Anderson, Marcos Baghdatis and Michael Llodra to move into the quarterfinal here.
Compared to Djokovic on paper, Tomic seems like a pushover. Ranked 158th in the world, Tomic has failed to perform on both the professional tour and the Challenger circuit. Exiting in first rounds mostly, Tomic sports a disappointing 3-6 win loss for the season.
However, it may be not be prudent to write off the youngster so easily. Appearing in only his third Wimbledon Championships with a main draw appearance for only the second time, the youngster has put in very surprising results. Debuting in 2009, Tomic failed to qualify for the main draw while he fell to world number nine Mardy Fish from American in the first round last year. However, this time round, the Aussie has managed to win seven straight matches with several upsets along the way. A qualifier here, Tomic undid 29th seed, Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets in the first round. He then bounced back from two sets down to oust Igor Andreev. His biggest victory here came in the third round when he upset 5th seeded Swede, Robin Soderling in straight sets before doing away with Belgian Xavier Malisse (again in straight sets), becoming the youngest player to make it into the quarterfinals here since Boris Becker in 1986.
Given his current form, Tomic may spell trouble for the Djoker. Backed by legends Mark Woodbridge and Pat Cash, Tomic might have a chance of upsetting Djokovic – farfetched perhaps but a chance nevertheless. This will be the Aussie’s first ever meeting with the Serb on tour, though they have played an exhibition match against each other at the 2010 Kooyong AAMI Classic.
Prediction: Going by the stats, Djokovic is expected to destroy the youngster in straight sets, though the Aussies will definitely be rooting for another major upset.
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