Bernard Tomic of Australia plays a forehand at a practice session. Source: Brendon Thorne / Getty Images
BERNARD Tomic has been rated one of the most dangerous players of 2014 by top seed Juan Martin del Potro as the Australian chases a first ever defence on an ATP crown at the Apia International Sydney from today.
A bullish Tomic starts his defence of both the Sydney International and his mantle as Australia's top male singles player against Spanish No.8 Marcel Granollers at the Sydney Tennis Centre.
Yesterday, as Tomic prepared for this opening match with two hours of practice on a back court at Sydney Olympic Park, the world No.5 Argentinean identified the 21-year-old as one of the players to watch at the tournament and in the future,
"I think he is still young and he has a big future,'' del Potro said.
"He has already made good tournaments, beaten good players but he is young.
"If he has the time and if he doesn't feel the pressure of the crowd or the tennis people he will be relaxed and fighting for his goal. I think he has everything to go very far.
"He is very smart to play. We respect him a lot on court. It is going to be a really dangerous players for us this season and in the future too.''
Tomic's ranking of 51st was not high enough for him to be an automatic qualifier in Sydney with event organisers awarding him a prized wildcard. Fortunately the Australian, often better known for his off court antics than his on-court results, has been drawn in the opposite half to top men's seed del Potro.
Both the Argentinean and Tomic believe the Australian will be advantaged by playing on home turf.
Bernard Tomic of Australia plays a forehand at a practice session. Source: Getty Images
"He is a really nice player and the fans here like him a lot. Of course it is an advantage when you play at home,'' del Potro said.
"He likes the surface, he will be playing maybe every night which is better for the weather conditions and the people help him a lot to play good tennis here.
"You also have other good players in the tournament fighting for the win so I think it will be an interesting week.''
Tomic believes the home crown support and being acclimatised to the Australian summer are keys to his success at this week's tournament.
Tomic, fresh off two wins from his three matches at the Hopman Cup, is in danger of being overtaken as the top Australian man on the world rankings following recent strong performances from both Lleyton Hewitt (60th) and Marinko Matosevic (61st), who made the quarter-finals in Brisbane.
"It's going to be a tough match early but I have been in Australia for the last few months now and I am sure he has only been here not so many days,'' Tomic said of his first-up opponent Granollers.
"That is an advantage I have.''
Former world No.1 doubles star Rennae Stubbs expects Tomic to revel in the spotlight at the Sydney International this week as he chases back-to-back titles.
Stubbs was one of a panel of experts whose opinion was sought on Tomic's chances at the event with the commentator tipping Tomic to show strong form at the events which finishes Saturday..
"I think Bernard loves the attention down here iin Australia and I think that he loves the pressure and spotlight, and I expect him to play as well as he did last year to defend his title,'' said Stubbs, part of a panel of experts interviews for the apiainternational.com.au website.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in this tournament."
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