Queenslanders do not normally find a British summer debilitating, so it was something of a surprise when Bernard Tomic revealed day that he has not been sleeping well because of the heat. And certainly, on the hottest day of the tournament, he did look to be suffering on his way through to the third round, where he plays Novak Djokovic on Friday.
Whatever the temperature, that is likely to be a considerably warmer experience for him than was his match against the Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert, whom he beat 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) in just under two hours on Court 18.
If Djokovic plays as well as he did towards the end of his one-sided win over Jarkko Nieminen in the Finn’s farewell appearance at Wimbledon, Tomic will be in trouble. The defending champion hit a pitch of near perfection on Centre Court after negotiating a tricky start to win 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in a little over an hour and a half.
A plainly weary Tomic said: “I didn’t sleep well yesterday and the day before – probably getting three or four hours of sleep. It’s been too hot. I was fatigued and starting to get dizzy out there with the heat hitting me. It was tough, so I had to slow things down. I had to catch my breath.
“I had to serve that [second] set out, which I did, but he had two break points and I played two good points on him. I was feeling bad. Hopefully I can get a good night’s sleep in tonight.”
It is good to see a dedicated young athlete taking care of himself as best he can in a major sporting event, because the night life of a big city has sometimes grabbed Tomic’s attentions in the past. He is lumbered with the baggage of a row with Tennis Australia over his on-off commitment to playing for his country in Davis Cup this year.
As for Djokovic, he confirmed the obvious: the best player in the world remains the logical favourite to win this title for a third time. It has been a gentle introduction to the campaign for him this week, the 33-year-old Nieminen not really providing him with a sustained workout once the Serb hit a rhythm.
They embraced warmly at the net and victor and vanquished left the court together, both loudly acclaimed. It is not often sentiment invades the celebration of a win on the big stage but Djokovic pointed out: “It’s his last Wimbledon. I have had a very nice relationship with Jarkko for many years. When I was coming into the professional tennis as an 18-year-old, I was playing some challenger in Helsinki in Finland – that’s where I met him the first time. Ever since then, he’s been very kind to me. He’s one of the nicest guys I know on the Tour, on and off the court.”
He added: “I’m glad with the way I’m playing, getting into some form. Hopefully I will be able to elevate my performance next match.”
He does not need to improve much after stroking eight aces and 38 clean winners, but he is a perfectionist with a suspicious eye on his peers; he knows Tomic could be as dangerous as perhaps Andy Murray, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal on the final Sunday, if he gets that far for the third year in a row.
It would seem the shock of losing to Stan Wawrinka in the final of the French Open last month – after crushing Nadal in the quarter-finals and holding off the challenge of Murray in the semis – has given him the old steel he needs to perform at his best. There should be no aberrations between here and the final stages of the tournament.
“I would rate that probably around seven or eight [out of 10], a very solid performance,” he said. “I’ve done just enough to win in straight sets. He started off very well, very aggressive, winners in the first couple games. I managed to stay calm.
“The crucial turning point was the 10th game of the first set, which I won, and then I started playing more freely. I thought I had the match under control and everything was fine.”
Asked what he thought of the travelling Australian supporters who call themselves The Fanatics and will no doubt be as loud on Friday as they have been all week, he said they were “a little bit of everything”.
He added: “It’s nice to see there are a group of guys coming to support their player. Tennis maybe misses a little bit of, I’d say, a Davis Cup atmosphere. But you get used to it once you play in front of them, which I’ve done in Australia quite a few times against Lleyton [Hewitt]. I know what to expect.”
What he cannot prepare for is Tomic’s unpredictability. As the Australian has shown here in the past, he is capable of sublime tennis as well as the most dire surrender. On his showing so far, he may well produce the former when thrown into the toughest test of his year.
