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WIMBLEDON

June 29, 2016

Bernard Tomic

London, England

B. TOMIC/F. Verdasco
4‑6, 6‑3, 6‑3, 3‑6, 6‑4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. The rain came at a good time for you last night, do you think?
BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, it came probably at a time we both needed. Start of the fifth set was ‑‑it was going to be tough for me because I was a little bit tired in the fourth set, but I was happy to get that momentum to stop, I think.
It was just a pain. The last 24 hours was just very tough because you have to go to sleep, you have one set to go, and then to come out playing well. It's just one break of serve. It happened to be that one break of serve. So I'm very happy that I won in the end.

Q. How do you control the nerves when you get so close to the victory and you have to wait for four hours?
BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, it was tough. I mean, I knew it was going to be a break in it. Then when I managed to get it and held and after that big game at 4‑3 it was very, very emotional because I should have lost that game. Then to win that gave me a big breathing space, and then obviously the officials said to come off the court. But for me I was happy. For me this game was the key game at 4‑3. I knew after I just needed to serve it out. I did that.

Q. Tennis etiquette requires that both players arrive on court at the same time. You were kept waiting about eight minutes. Any idea why?
BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, well, I think because he was up in the locker getting something taped on as when I left and I thought he was leaving, so I just happened to walk out. Yeah, I did get to the court prior to him very early, and unfortunately I had to stand on court like a retard.

Q. It could have been over before it rained, really, couldn't it?
BERNARD TOMIC: When you think about it, you're right. It was surprising to see today because when I saw the score at 5‑3 I saw the scores at 1‑All and people have just chosen to serve or receive. I was just fascinated how we went through so many games to 5‑3.

Q. How much of a relief is it to win tonight and not have to sleep on a 4‑3 lead?
BERNARD TOMIC: Well, it was actually ‑‑I was thinking about it before and I said to myself, you know, maybe if I come back tomorrow maybe they won't put me to play that second‑round match tomorrow. Maybe I just play ‑‑I don't know how the scheduling can work and what they can do with the rules. I was leaning on hopefully playing tomorrow and then not having to play second if I had have won.
Now I have to play tomorrow. But I don't really know what happened. And we did go from the courts at fifth set, and having to go in that night and sleep and all this drama, it's something I'm not used to. Probably only happened a few times in my career. Twice I think I won. This is one of the recent times it happens. You need to know how to handle it and try to do the best as I could.

Q. What do you know about your next opponent?
BERNARD TOMIC: Well, I know he went through quallies. I did manage to hit some balls with him over the clay court period. He's a cool guy. I know his coach well.
So, yeah, he's competing well playing. He won today. I think he's a really tough competitor. I have to respect and try and focus on my game to win.

Q. Where's your game do you feel at the moment?
BERNARD TOMIC: Well, I'm pretty happy, I said before, probably with my results, some of the best grass court results prior to Wimbledon. I think it's pretty solid.
Obviously once the draw came out to play Fernando, he's very tough because you're playing a top player and a very respected player on tour. He was going to be a very tough first round, everyone knew. Whoever won this match, you know, had a big chance of going further into the draw, for sure.

Q. What do you need to improve for the next round?
BERNARD TOMIC: I have to improve my focus and serve well. I think I served so good throughout the sets I won against Verdasco but I served so bad the sets I lost against Verdasco.
So I think I just need to work on consistency, and serving is the key to my game on grass, for sure.

Q. Is the back feeling okay?
BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, it is. It's feeling pretty good. Obviously a lot of stopping/starting. Especially in Queen's I played. It was very similar to this. It was a very draining two weeks, but I'm very confident in the results lately.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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