Laver fires gentle rocket at Tomic

Bernard Tomic's off-court form is not in question but it rapidly heads south once he's holding a racquet. Source: Supplied

ANOTHER coach is in place, but the key to Bernard Tomic's rise to become a Grand Slam champion is held by the man in the mirror.

Tomic finished 2013 with six losses in succession in tournament main draw matches, ending up with a ranking of No.51, one place worse than he was 12 months ago.

A lot else happened in his marking-time year. He turned 21, his family moved home from the Gold Coast to Melbourne and his father John was banned until at least next May for injuring his son's hitting partner Thomas Drouet, breaking the Frenchman's nose.

The 21-year-old will work with former Croatian Olympic team coach Vladimir Zovko at Melbourne Park this month, a time of year when the young Australian historically does his best work in training, judging by his results in his three full years on the pro tour.

Zovko was hired as a coach and John Tomic reckons his own future guidance of his son's career will be in the "background''.

Time will whether Zovko is the authoritative character of substance to challenge the Tomics' way of doing things when the tough issues, like commitment to training, have to be addressed.

The Tomics have to want to make the association work for Bernard's tennis, not for it to be a stopgap role until John's ban by the ATP is lifted.

Rod Laver believes Bernard Tomic needs to push himelf more in training to reap the benefits. Source: News Limited

Rod Laver follows Tomic from a distance, but attends as many Grand Slam tournaments as he can and wonders if he realises how hard he is able to push himself in training.

This is a kind way of saying what Pat Rafter, the Davis Cup captain, has reckoned about Tomic in past observations, such as the one that the effort in a 2011 US Open loss was "disgraceful''.

"Maybe Bernard sometimes feels he doesn't want to put in too much on court because then maybe he won't play his best in a match,'' Laver told The Courier-Mail.

"It's probably (about) preparation, putting in your best effort. You can push yourself a lot more than you think you can. It's possibly one of the things Bernard needs to look at, to force himself into positions on the court.

"It's hard to pinpoint. He played some great matches at Wimbledon this year and hopefully he will start getting some wins which he should get.

"They are the matches when I played, with Hopman and Charlie Hollis as my coaches, they would always put input on the matches that really counted. Maybe that's what Tomic is lacking at this juncture.''

In case you think it is just ex-Australian players and the Australian media growing impatient with Tomic's progress, I can pass on the thoughts of Peter Bodo, one of the most experienced of American tennis reporters.

In an end-of-year awards column, Bodo accorded Tomic his award as "Train Wreck of the Year''.

Tomic is the highest ranked of the four men younger than 22 ranked in the top 100.

I asked Laver who he thought the next Grand Slam men's winner would be aside from Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. He gave one name in reply and it wasn't Tomic's.

Canada's Milos Raonic is Rod Laver's tip to be testing the best players in a few years. Source: AFP

"I think Nadal and Djokovic will have it between them for the next few years, but (Milos) Raonic from Canada is a very important part of things and has improved out of sight since he got a new coach and a new-found game,'' Laver said.

"He's going to be tough to beat. In two or three years he's going to be a force among the very top players.''

Raonic, 22, is ranked No.11 and edged out Tomic for the 2011 ATP rookie of the year award when the Australian was much better performed at the majors that year.

There are two others on the charge and ranked in the twenties - 22-year-old Grigor Dimitrov, a Bulgarian playing the Brisbane International this month, and Polish 23-year-old Jerzy Janowicz.

Nadal was the last of the teen champions of men's tennis.

The game has changed since then, so Tomic deserves our patience.

Even, that is, if some of the things he does, like his penchant for Gold Coast nightlife and his retirement from no fewer than three matches this year, tests it.

WHAT, IF ANYTHING, IS WRONG WITH BERNARD TOMIC? HAVE YOUR SAY BELOW.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Laver fires gentle rocket at Tomic

Dengan url

http://sportlivestyle.blogspot.com/2013/12/laver-fires-gentle-rocket-at-tomic.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Laver fires gentle rocket at Tomic

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Laver fires gentle rocket at Tomic

sebagai sumbernya