Young gun Bernard Tomic is looking to reward the faith shown in him by tournament organisers by playing his best tennis at this week’s Brisbane International.
The 18 year old faced the media today and answered questions ranging from his relationship with Lleyton Hewitt to why he didn’t play in the AO Play-off.
Not flustered by the questioning, Tomic said that the rift with Hewitt was a thing of the past.
“It’s been really good,” he said. “I spoke to him about six months ago, I haven’t heard from him since but I think we’ll get along.
“I’ve got to build a relationship here in Australia. I think I’m real good with him now.
“We’ve had our problems in the past but I think it’s all in the past.”
Tomic said that he would like to one day play in the Australian Davis Cup team with Hewitt. His one Davis Cup appearance to date came against Chinese Taipei in 2010, when Hewitt was injured.
Looking forward to the main draw in Brisbane and Tomic said that he’s feeling good and ready to play. He insists that he’s now over the virus that kept him out of the AO Play-off in mid-December.
“I had a virus at the time,” he said. “I gave it a shot, like anyone going to work, you want to see if you can do it.
“It was unfortunate I didn’t go to the play-offs as I’ve felt good the last two years playing there.
But now with his third-straight Brisbane wildcard in hand, Tomic is focused on his best ever result at this event. So far the world No.208 has only managed a pair of first-round losses here. Something he says he’d love to rectify.
“I’m focused on this (Brisbane) tournament here. I want to push myself as much as I can,” he said.
“I’ve lost first round the last two years but always felt like I could do better.
“But I think I’m playing good right now and if I get the right draw I can do well here.”