Bernard Tomic is one win away from successfully defending his 2013 Sydney title. Standing in his way on Saturday, however, is the tournament’s No. 1 seed–Juan Martin Del Potro.
There’s Bernard Tomic in Australia, and then there’s Bernard Tomic everywhere else. The two are not the same–to put it mildly.
Playing in front of his home crowd, the 21-year-old Aussie is through to his second straight Apia International final following wins this week over Marcel Granollers, Blaz Kavcic, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Sergiy Stakhovsky. Tomic, who beat Kevin Anderson for last season’s title, has also reached at least the third round of the Australian Open on three consecutive occasions.
Up next for Tomic on Saturday, though, is Juan Martin Del Potro. Like his opponent, Del Potro has also survived a pair of three-setters in Sydney–against Nicolas Mahut and then one round later in the quarterfinals versus Radek Stepanek. The fifth-ranked Argentine picked up the pace on Friday and hammered Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-2.
This is the second career meeting between Del Potro and Tomic, with Del Potro having dominated 6-3, 6-3 last summer on the hard courts of Washington, D.C. on his way to the title. The underdog should have a better chance at what is quickly becoming his favorite tournament, but the top seed will likely have too much firepower and too much experience in ATP finals.
Pick: Del Potro in 2
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Not the moment for Ricky to remind us that Tomic has reached at least the 3rd round at the AO on consecutive occasions 🙁
How he plays against Delpo in Sydney will be very revealing. Hope the prediction becomes a reality
I had almost forgotten about this tournament. I didn’t even realize that Tomic was in the finals against Delpo. I would really like to get a look at this match, just to see how these two guys look.
I have not seen Delpo play, so I can’t speak to his current form. But on paper, I would consider him the heavy favorite. Tomic can sometimes surprise and his unorthodox game can present some challenges, but I see Delpo winning this in straight sets.
I really want to see how Tomic looks here, to get a sense of what Rafa might be up against in his first match. With the huge time difference, it’s been challenging to see these matches. I have to keep reminding myself that Australia is a day ahead.
NNY7: The Tennis Channel will be showing the final 3 times in the next 2 days, all on a delay of course. 6 PM Saturday, and 5 AM and 8:30 PM Sunday, all times Pacific (yours and my time zone). At least that’s what their schedule says.