Predict how good will Tomic be...?

[crowsarethebest]

Tomic has the ability to hit big winners off his forhand.. but he chooses to push/bunt it back more of the time. His strokes have definitely increased in average speed but are still quite slow compared to most players on tour. The stronger he gets the faster the pace of his shots will be. I think his movement will determine whether or not he'll be a top player or not. It's still pretty terrible at the moment (albeit has improved alot in the last few years). Seriously, he moves worse than Ivo Karlovic does. I think his footwork can improve alot as well... seems flat footed half the time. It's what let him dwn during the Djokovic match in the 3rd set, his feet were like concrete.

 

[Dundalis]

Well, define a big forehand. He hits the stroke well, but would you call it a weapon yet? Personally, I wouldn't - at least not when we're talking in the sense of being able to compete with the big guys.

A big forehand is where a player knows that he can't drop anything short or in the hitting zone otherwise it's going for a winner. See Soderling, Gonzalez, Monfils, etc.

Tomic hits it nicely and cleanly and gets some good pace, but he still has to work players off the court to create space to hit winners. He still lacks the ability to really punish every single bad ball he gets. That's one of the things that defines the top players.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/t...-effortless-game/story-e6frfgao-1226060332249

Agassi disagrees. He's played with some absolute dominant ball strikers, like Safin, and as you mentioned Gonzalez, not to mention being a phenomenal ball striker himself. He's not someone I expect to be easily impressed.

Tomic chooses not to hit the ball with power each stroke of a rally. He doesn't lack the ability to punish bad balls whatsoever, he does it because it's the style of play he's played his whole junior career. He prefers to wait for his opponents to make a mistake as a tactic.

Now you are right, it's probably not going to win him any Grand Slams, but it's got nothing to do with an inability to dominate with power. He needs to learn to simply be more aggressive in the transition to seniors. If he couldn't do it, you wouldn't have seen Djokovic absolutely dominated from the baseline in that second, early third and forth set.

 

[Caesar]

Where does Agassi say he has a big forehand? He says he hits the ball effortlessly and when he learns how to play the game he will be very good.

Everyone knows he has good technique but the reality is that he's not able to rip big forehands consistently yet.

 

[Power King]

For me, having a big forehand is having a forehand that can consistently be used as a weapon against the best. Tomic's isn't as developed as it can be, but that's more due to age. He can crack it when he wants to.

It's not all about power, though that is still important. Placement and shot-making is critical too. Federer will be remembered as his forehand being a weapond, even though its power doesn't compare to someone like Gonzalez's. A good analogy is to look at Sampras vs Roddick in retrospect, in terms of their serve.

 

[Dundalis]

Where does Agassi say he has a big forehand? He says he hits the ball effortlessly and when he learns how to play the game he will be very good.

Everyone knows he has good technique but the reality is that he's not able to rip big forehands consistently yet.

He said it's remarkable how Tomic can hit with such effortless power. That's a bit different from just saying he hits it effortlessly. I hit effortlessly, but not with a terrible amount of force, that's not much of a compliment, more a comment on style. He didn't say forehand, because Tomic can generate just about an equal amount of power from his backhand.

If Tomic couldn't generate an impressive amount of power from his groundstrokes, Agassi wouldn't have even mentioned the word.

Who said anything about consistency? Andrew Illie had a massive forehand, it was a definite weapon, but he couldn't hit it consistently. That's not the criteria for having a weapon as a tennis skill I wouldn't have thought. Most 18 year old tennis players can't do anything with any real consistency, particularly in today's era.

 

[Caesar]

Look, if you think that Tomic generates a ton of power from his groundstrokes find me some stats. Because the matches I was watching, his winners were not clocking particularly high mph.

He hits nicely, cleanly and varies his pace well, which indicates he could potentially have a booming forehand one day, but he's not there yet. That's my interpretation of Agassi's comments. In the context of troubling top players he simply does not have the weapons yet and is reliant on his ability to construct points intelligently.

I'm not sure why we're even discussing this, it's not exactly contentious.

 

[Dundalis]

Look, if you think that Tomic generates a ton of power from his groundstrokes find me some stats. Because the matches I was watching, his winners were not clocking particularly high mph.

He hits nicely, cleanly and varies his pace well, which indicates he could potentially have a booming forehand one day, but he's not there yet. That's my interpretation of Agassi's comments. In the context of troubling top players he simply does not have the weapons yet and is reliant on his ability to construct points intelligently.

I'm not sure why we're even discussing this, it's not exactly contentious.

I'm pretty sure his average k's on his forehand were equal or close to Rafa's in their match as the Aus Open. I don't have stats, just what was shown graphically during the telecast.

When you consider the fact that most of the groundies he hits in a rally are probably between 50-75% of his maximum, I think that's fairly impressive.

I think the only thing in contention here is whether he can dominate with power if he chooses to (it's already there) but he has a style that is ingrained in him from his junior days where he could win tournaments by simply waiting for his opponents to make mistakes, or whether it isn't actually there at all. I think it's there and what needs to change is his overly passive style of play. At this point he probably feels like he needs to give himself time to set more than he actually does due to his relatively poor movement.

 

[Dr Awkward]

Tomic has the ability to hit big winners off his forhand.. but he chooses to push/bunt it back more of the time. His strokes have definitely increased in average speed but are still quite slow compared to most players on tour. The stronger he gets the faster the pace of his shots will be. I think his movement will determine whether or not he'll be a top player or not. It's still pretty terrible at the moment (albeit has improved alot in the last few years). Seriously, he moves worse than Ivo Karlovic does. I think his footwork can improve alot as well... seems flat footed half the time. It's what let him dwn during the Djokovic match in the 3rd set, his feet were like concrete.

His movement is deceptively not that bad.

It looks like is moving terribly but he has good anticipation and i think he actually tracks down quite a lot of shots.

I think he has a general 'laconic' style which can offput some opponents.

 

[crowsarethebest]

His movement is deceptively not that bad.

It looks like is moving terribly but he has good anticipation and i think he actually tracks down quite a lot of shots.

I think he has a general 'laconic' style which can offput some opponents.

Haha mate, his movement is terrible. His anticipation is what makes up for his terrible mobility. There's no denying it, he would have to be one of the worst mover's on tour. It's improved alots over the past year or 2, however it still is pretty bad. Hopefully it can improve over the next few years as his body has stopped growing etc.

 

[krisholio14]

Where does Agassi say he has a big forehand? He says he hits the ball effortlessly and when he learns how to play the game he will be very good.

Everyone knows he has good technique but the reality is that he's not able to rip big forehands consistently yet.

He's 18 years old.

When he's 22 he'll be ripping big forehands.

 

[Dr Awkward]

Del Potro at 18 was also stick figure. Now his shots are huge.

 

[yc168]

Best bet for Australia for sure, his forehands are so disguised! His just gotta get his confidence and he will be on par to fight for the next grand slam!

 

[hirdy_is_champ]

Bernie's playing Rogers cup, Montreal next. No poitns to defend til the end of the year which means if he does well this hardcourt season should be able to push towards top 50.

 

[hirdy_is_champ]

Unfortunately lost to Benneteau in Q of Cincinatti. 7-6 6-7 1-6, disappointing but at this age its not surprising that he'll be rather inconsistent.

 

[Dr Awkward]

I get the feeling he is not going to be a week in week out grinder like a Davydenko or Ferrer or something, especially at smaller tournaments and such.

It seems like he turns up to play and prepares especially for certain things and I predict that for his entire career he will have better results at Grand Slams than at any other tournaments.

 

[Caesar]

I kind of get the feeling that he feels like he's too good for lesser tournaments. Hopefully that doesn't impede his development.

Really feel like he should be getting more matchtime than he is currently. Someone like Dimitrov is probably a less talented player, but far more fully developed as a result of putting in the effort at Challenger and 250 level. It's not glamorous work but the experience pays dividends.

 

[CumminsTomicFan]

He needs to do a lot more work because he makes too many lazy unforced errors. It'll be interesting to see how he plays at his best without these "incidents".

 

[Amazing Bombers]

There's a few areas of his game he can work on but if he does he can possibly reach top 20 and win at least 1 Grand Slam.

 

[XFactor1979]

51 to 1 to win the Australian open

Those odds courtesy of the TAB

 

[hamohawk1]

if he can play his best for a few matches anything can happen. his forehands has players in all sorts and the same can be said with his all round game play

only was down at certain moments for the berdych match which cost him the set

he can be anything he wants to be

 

[tombomb]

it doesnt help when Channel 7 are drooling over you every 5 minutes, but am i only one who thinks this guy could be a disaster waiting to happen? While his game his clearly developing at a rapid rate, personality wise there seems to be some real issues.

Just subtle things but I cant work out if he is an idiot or a tosser? Either of those 2 things combined with a moron father and I reckon he could spit the dummy when things dont go his way. he seems very full of himself for someone who hasn't won anything yet.

 

[The_Doctor]

Lol whats wrong with his personality? I think he is fine, he is only 19 and getting used to the media but he generally seems fine. A bit boring in his answers to questions but oh well thats not high on my list of priorities for a tennis player and im sure he will open up more with time.

I dont think i have ever seen him lose it on court when things didnt go his way. He may have but i havent seen it

 

[krisholio14]

it doesnt help when Channel 7 are drooling over you every 5 minutes, but am i only one who thinks this guy could be a disaster waiting to happen? While his game his clearly developing at a rapid rate, personality wise there seems to be some real issues.

Just subtle things but I cant work out if he is an idiot or a tosser? Either of those 2 things combined with a moron father and I reckon he could spit the dummy when things dont go his way. he seems very full of himself for someone who hasn't won anything yet.

I don't care if he's an idiot AND a tosser.

He's a bloody good player who is only going to get better and i hope he wins a shitload of slams. Whether he's a nice bloke or not doesn't come into it.

 

[bombermick]

I see him becoming like Murray. Firmly inside the top ten and constructs points very well, but lacks the massive weapon that allows him to collect Slams.

He may pinch one, but I can't see him becoming a great.

 

[Caesar]

At #37 I think Tomic is very close to being the highest ranked player without an ATP title.

I know Bogomolov Jr. (34) doesn't have one either, but he might be the only one above him.