Bernard Tomic - 17.1.2013

TENNIS - Australian Open 2013. TOMIC d. Brands 6-7 7-5 7-6 7-6

Q.  Must be happy to seal the win eventually.
BERNARD TOMIC:  Yeah, very pleased with myself.  You know, Daniel played really, really well.  I was surprised how he played today.  You know, I'm just happy I won in the end because he wasn't playing like his ranking.  He was playing better than that.

Q.  Was it a bit harder than you expected?
BERNARD TOMIC:  It was.  I didn't think he could serve like this.  I think he served over 20 aces the whole match.  Serving amazing.  I couldn't read it at all.  I was happy I broke him in that second set at 5 All.  Anything would have happened in that tiebreak.  Being down two sets to Love is not a good thing in Grand Slams.

Q.  That breakpoint you did win, it shows a bit about how much you improved in your movement.
BERNARD TOMIC:  Yeah, I remember the point.  It was a very good move by me.  I think he came to the net and drop shotted me.  I managed to angle it and covered the whole court to pass him down the line.  That showed really that I have improved my movement.
What a point it was because that turned around the match for my confidence as well.  It was tough to get into the match in the first set.  He was serving so good.  But full credit to him.  I was amazed how he could play.

Q.  How did you find the conditions out there today?  Another set, was there much in the tank?
BERNARD TOMIC:  I was fine physically.  Just the heat always distracts you when you're playing an opponent that you can't figure out, you can't break him, he's on top of you.  It's very difficult.
It was very hot out there.  I managed to cool down.  I had a few cheap service games of mine.  It allowed me to focus in the third and fourth set.

Q.  There were times you couldn't get a point off him on serve.  What was the key behind turning that around?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Sometimes in tennis you can't go in every service game, if you're down 30 Love, 40 Love, especially on hot days, you want to save a bit of energy, go for it the next game.
I felt like I had not a lot of chances today.  When I got my chance, I tried to do as much as I could.  It worked out for me in the end.
But I only got a few, and I was lucky to get them.

Q.  When you get up to the fifth or sixth match point, what was going through your head?
BERNARD TOMIC:  He couldn't miss a serve.  I mean, serving like Roddick.  I thought Roddick retired.

Q.  How much do you think it took out of you, Bernie?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Not a lot.  Mentally and physically I feel fine.  It's just being on court, you know, long hours, especially in the heat, it's very difficult.  You want to get off the court as quick as you can.
But I'm happy in the end I won.  Regardless, I'm still feeling fine.  I've got another day.  Physically wise I'm pretty sweet, so it doesn't matter.

Q.  You served over 20 aces yourself.  How much of a comfort is it to know you can rely on that?
BERNARD TOMIC:  I saw the stats as I was walking out.  It was 23 to 26 aces my way.  That's probably the best I've ever served.
I didn't get broken today at all, not even in the first round.  I think the last break of serve was in the quarters against Nieminen in Sydney.  I think I just got broken once there.  Tells you I'm serving really well.
But I'm going to use all this confidence into the next round, you know, potentially who waits there.  We'll see.

Q.  You said in your last press conference you were going to look at YouTube to find out about your opponent.  Did you find out much?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Found one YouTube clip (smiling).

Q.  What did it tell you?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Went for about four minutes and it was really blurry.
The things I saw in him was not the same thing I saw today, so...

Q.  What was going through your mind when he was clawing back those match points?
BERNARD TOMIC:  I mean, just win somehow, win this point.  I managed to serve a good serve and an ace I think when it mattered.  Anything could have happened in that fifth set.
But it just shows you what players can do.  I mean, he's ranked not in the top 100 and he played like a top 10 player today, top 15.  I think, as you saw in Doha, he played well, made the semis.  He's been in the top 60 or 70.
But he played much, much better than his ranking today.  Full credit to him.  Like I said, he played much better than his ranking.

Q.  What is your plan for tonight?  Sit and watch the match?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Yeah.  Obviously it's going to be interesting.  Roger's obviously favored to win that.  He should.  He's playing a guy that's beaten him before.  It's not easy playing Davydenko.  I'm sure Roger knows that as well.  You can't take anyone lightly, especially someone that's been in the top 5 for like six years.
It will be an interesting match.  I'm going to watch it tonight, just work out some things what I need to use if I get the opportunity to play any of those players.

Q.  You won't have to go to YouTube to get Roger's highlights.  If it is him, how do you feel about the matchup?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Yeah, if it is him, then what a match it is, you know, 10 out of 10 now with matches.  I feel so confident.  This is the perfect time to play him.  I think, you know, I've got a good attitude to win.  I've beaten a lot of good players over the last past two weeks, especially Novak.  I think I can do it if he wins his match.
I'm ready.  I mean, I'm not going to say, you know, I don't have the belief.  I do have the belief now.  It's possible.  I showed that in Perth, that you can beat these players.  Now I'm going to try to beat him.

Q.  Do you think you can find the right attitude going into that match?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Yeah, I can.  I mean, the most important thing against someone like that, against Roger, if I do play him, is that I've got to hold and keep it close within the first set.  If I keep it close in the first set, manage to win that first set, then it can be a different story.
Being one set to Love up is a huge advantage against him.  If he frees up and wins that first set, it's different.
But I'm confident.  I'm going to get ready as much as I can to play any of those two players.  All I can do is try to win.

Q.  How do you look back on that match last year in the fourth round now?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Yeah, I look back, some memories.  That was the second time I played Roger.  He did play pretty well that day.  I think I lost 6 4, 6 2, 6 2.  He played too good that day.
I had my chance.  Got it to 4 All.  I think I lost that service game.  From there I couldn't get back into the match.  It was all one way from him.
But, you know, if I do play him, then I've got my serve, which is a weapon that I can keep holding now against him.  But he's got to beat Davydenko.  It's not easy.  Be interesting to see that.

Q.  The serve is a key.  What will you do differently to last year?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Against him?

Q.  Yes.
BERNARD TOMIC:  I think I don't want to speak too soon, but I have my tactics on what I have to do.  We'll see.
Obviously I'm serving good.  That's on my side now, so I've got to use that.

Q.  How much better are you serving than 12 months ago or even four months ago?
BERNARD TOMIC:  A lot.  Amazing, a lot.  Winning a tournament in Sydney, losing serve once I think to Nieminen, I think I served bloody well.  I haven't lost my serve here yet.  I think I lost it once or twice in Perth in that earlier round against Tommy Haas.
I'm serving the best I've ever been serving.  I'm finally using the best of my height.  It's important to have a good serve at 6'4", 6'5".  Now I'm serving really well, and that's why I'm winning a lot of matches.

Q.  What do you see as being the key factors in the past couple weeks' performance?
BERNARD TOMIC:  A lot of rest and a lot of hard work.  That's been my go to plan ever since I sat down and came back from Europe last year.  I worked hard.  I improved the stuff I needed to improve on.
I had a few flaws in my game, and I improved that.  I improved my serve a lot and my fitness.  That's why I think I'm playing good tennis on the court.  Hopefully I can keep it up, especially next round.

Q.  Who did you sit down with?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Myself.

Q.  You sat down and thought you needed to change?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Time flies.  I learnt that last year.  A year goes by really quickly.  All of a sudden I was 19, now I'm 20.  That was in October last year.  I said, Look, time's flying.  I do have the talent.  I can play good.  But I'm not using it.
So I worked hard, as much as I could.  It's amazing, you know, what can happen in two months, let alone in the next year if you push yourself to improve every day.

Q.  Were you worried it was slipping away what you always thought was your destiny, a doubt it may not occur?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Yeah, I felt that a bit.  You know, but I learnt from that and I took that onboard.  I think that's what made me change.  Obviously, my ranking dropping made me wake up and say, Look, you know, regardless of how I'm playing, how I'm feeling, I'm losing my ranking, and I've got to work hard.  That made me change.

Q.  Was there anything anyone said to you that was part of the equation?
BERNARD TOMIC:  No, no.  It's just me, you know.  Before last year, I didn't really have the urge to improve.  I was doing well.  I mean, I got to 27 in the world.  But I just felt that I started not training as much, not doing the right things, not committing, not focusing on the tennis court.  Slowly I was sliding down.
Then, you know, I got a wake up call and I turned around.

Q.  Give us an insight into the atmosphere on court.  Distractions in the crowd.  Did you enjoy that sort of thing?  Did that lift you up?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Yeah, it did.  The crowd's amazing on Rod Laver.  They support me so much.  The fans.  I was happy to have the two fanatics in my box today that were lifting me up.  They do a good job to all our Australian players.
The support down here is huge.  I'm going to need every bit of it on Saturday night.

Q.  You're the only Australian person left in the singles draw now.  Does that come with extra pressure?  Do you have any thoughts about that?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Yeah, I got asked the question last year in the fourth round.
Yeah, it's tough to look at it that way.  You know, obviously James lost 10 8 in the fifth, had chances to win that match.  But now there's not that much pressure, you would say.  I don't really focus on that sort of thing anymore.  I just want to play, get out and win.

Q.  I know you had some ups and downs, with Davis Cup and stuff like that.  Do you feel like everything is forgiven and forgotten, things are on the up and up, or do you still feel you have things to prove to people here?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Well, obviously I'm going on the up.  I've got a lot more things to prove for myself.  That's the most important thing.  You know, I'm not going to stop here.  It doesn't satisfy me.
Winning last week and being on this winning match streak doesn't satisfy me.  I want to win Grand Slams.  I'm going to try as much as I can to get the opportunity and work hard, the right chances.  This is a chance, and I'm going to take it onboard and we'll see what happens on Saturday night.

Q.  When you had this conversation with yourself last year, did you get an idea of why things were going a little off the rails?
BERNARD TOMIC:  Yeah, I sat down with my team, myself, obviously went through a lot of periods last year where I was losing first rounds.  It changed me.
The most more thing is I woke up and I realized, you know, that time does fly.  If I don't actually put in the hard work, don't actually give 100% every day, that will cost you.
Lucky I learnt that.  Now all I give is 100%.  Whether you win or lose, it doesn't matter.  It's making me a better player.

Q.  Was there one particular day that you can recall?
BERNARD TOMIC:  I'd love to be able to recall that.
As soon as I got back, it was that period when I got back, I had two, three weeks off, I didn't play tennis.  I was relaxing.  Then I just got to appreciate it more.  Just felt like I was wasting my time last year.
I reached a lot for my age, 18, 19.  I achieved pretty good stats.  But I wasn't satisfied myself.  After I turned 20, I was like, I could have been much better than this.  I'm not going to waste it anymore.  I'm going to try to win.