Australian Open First Round Highlight Match: Nadal vs. Tomic

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 10th January 2014

APIA Sydney International Tennis Tournament

Australian Open First Round Highlight Match: Nadal vs. Tomic

epa04011789 Australia's Bernard Tomic returns a ball to Blaz Kavcic of Slovakia during their during second round match at the APIA Sydney International Tennis Tournament in Sydney, Australia, 08 January 2014. EPA/PAUL MILLER AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY |

Rarely, since the introduction of 32 seeds in Grand Slam events 13 years ago has the draw thrown up a confrontation with as much spice as Rafael Nadal’s Australian Open first round clash with home favorite Bernard Tomic.

Nadal played himself into form by winning last week’s Qatar ExxonMobil Open title in Doha while Tomic is through to tomorrow’s final of the Apia International in Sydney where he is bidding to win the title. The first pairing out of the computer at Melbourne Park could not have produced a more enticing match up if it tried.

And Wally Masur, the former Australian player and coach who is now one of the sport’s most highly respected television pundits with his work for the Fox Sports Channel, believes the world no.54 will cause the top seeded Spaniard a fretful weekend.

“Nadal is vulnerable against Bernie’s aggressive style of play,” insisted Masur. “He will be dreading his Australian Open first round match.

“Bernie’s not just playing well in Sydney, he’s being aggressive and I like that. If you asked Rafa, I think he’d be quite candid about the not wanting to face Bernie first up. If you’re going to play Rafa, maybe the first round is the best time to get him when he hasn’t really got his teeth into the tournament.”

Melbourne’s weather forecasters have predicted the temperatures for Monday’s opening day will rise to 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrenheit) with an absolutely blazing 41C (105.8F) to follow on Tuesday.

Nadal usually delights in playing in the heat with the sun on his back but Masur maintained: “The hot conditions will be huge, if it’s fast and Bernie can really get that ball to penetrate through the court he can cause Rafa some problems.

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley, going into his first home major with the added responsibility of also being chief executive of Tennis Australia, said: “”I looked at the draw and thought, ‘It is great for the tournament to start off with a bang’, and we certainly do, having this match-up early.

“Whether there are opportunities for upsets or not remains to be seen.”

Tomic must face Sydney top seed Juan Martin del Potro in his bid to retain the Apia International title. The Aussie beat giant-killing Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7 4-7 7-5 6-3 in today’s second semi-final.

Topics: 10sballs, Australian Open, Bernard Tomic, Juan Martin Del Potro, Rafael Nadal, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News