Bernard Tomic To Lose Australian #1 Ranking

Written by: Resendiz on 26th October 2012

Bernard Tomic To Lose Australian #1 Ranking

epa03413652 Bernard Tomic of Australia returns the ball to Richard Gasquet of France in their quarter final match at the Thailand Open tennis tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, 28 September 2012. Gasquet won 7-6(5) and 6-4. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT |

The run at national No. 1 is over for Bernard Tomic with the tapped-out player set to be passed on Monday by Marinko Matosevic as the Aussie top player on the ATP ranking.

Tomic, who stood 48th, will be crashing out of the top 50 after losing his third straight match in the first round, this time in Basel. Matosevic, who played a Los Angeles semi-final last summer and got to the Vienna quarters last week, is set for a bump upwards to his No. 51 ranking.

Matosevic has been keeping his run of form alive this week in Basel, where he is playing for the quarter-finals.

Tomic turned 20 last weekend but has not been celebrating a happy birthday, with Australian tennis wise men from Roger Rasheed to Darren Cahill to Davis Cup skipper Patrick Rafter all chiming in with advice and suggestions to the confused player who has been billed as the heir-apparent to Lleyton Hewitt.

In addition, the youngster has been handed the embarrassing nickname of “Tomic the Tank Engine” after letting a match against Andy Roddick at the US Open slip away. “It’s been a long year, I played a lot of tournaments. Haven’t had time to rest,” Tomic said by way of excuses recently to Australian media,

“This is my first big year,” he added. “It takes a lot out of you. I feel the pressure now is starting to kick in. I’m starting to feel that at tournaments where I defend. It’s a bloody tough thing to respond to.”

©Daily tennis News

Topics: Australian Open 2012, Bernard Tomic, Lleyton Hewitt, Marinko Matosevic, Sports, Tennis News