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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 22, 2011

Bernard Tomic

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

R. NADAL/B. Tomic
6-2, 7-5, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Looked pretty encouraging. How did it look for you?
BERNARD TOMIC: Great. Played a wonderful match. The experience that I had, it was great today. You know, I played really good in that second set, felt really good. But overall the way I played I'm happy with where my level was and where I need to improve.

Q. What did you learn about what you need to improve specifically?
BERNARD TOMIC: Definitely when I get up 4-Love. That's one (laughter).
But he's a very competitive player. You know, I thought it was over at 4-Love. You know, just shows how much he can come back. Against these guys, especially in the top 10, you can't afford to lose concentration. That's the important part.
You know, physically-wise he's a machine. He just wears you down. That's where, you know, I'm going to need to improve on in the next few years. I'm improving on that since the last year and the year before. It's getting better for me physical-wise. I think there's a lot more to improve on like that.
The way I'm hitting the ball, I can't say I'm not hitting it good, I'm hitting it really good.

Q. Do you think you've given other players a bit of a blueprint the way you managed to test him?
BERNARD TOMIC: Well, uhm, I don't know about that. These players have seen him a lot. Can't just rate it on my match. I can definitely say the players that play him, the guys that give him a lot of time, that's his weapon. The guys that give him a lot of time are the guys that are not going to do so well against him. He's unbelievable when there's a lot of time around him. The only way to beat him is step up and hit the ball hard, go for your shots.
But rallying-wise, if you rally with him a lot, he's going to drain you out. He's too fast, too quick.

Q. Did he say anything to you after?
BERNARD TOMIC: He says, Very good play, keep working hard in the future. That's something I'll take from a player like that. He's a true champion. Very nice to get that advice from him.

Q. What tournaments have you got coming up? Take it as it comes?
BERNARD TOMIC: I don't know. I'll see the schedule. I'm definitely going to go to America and play more of the big tournaments. You know, I don't have a lot to defend now till the middle of the year. I can get my ranking up. Always worried me defending my points down in Australia because I always have like 130 points to defend. That's going to be my biggest task. I've defended a fair few. I can focus on building my points up and ranking until the end of the year.

Q. Is top hundred a goal this year?
BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah. I think absolutely, if I play well, you know, I'll definitely be in the top hundred. If I'm healthy during the year and I play a lot of tournaments, there's no doubt about it, I can break the top hundred.

Q. In hindsight, should you have played more last year?
BERNARD TOMIC: Yeah, I should have. You know, I spent a lot of time in Europe, for two and a half months. I think I played the wrong tournaments. That's why when I came back to Australia, it was tough for me to go back to Europe again, back to America. I gave a lot of time between Wimbledon and the US Open where I didn't play any tournaments. That gap, I'll play more tournaments. That's what I need. I know where my level is at now. It's just getting my points to get in the top hundred.

Q. Before the match you were waiting in the corridor for Rafa to come out. Was that quite difficult to be waiting around?
BERNARD TOMIC: No, no problem. He has his thing. Didn't really bother me.

Q. There's been a lot of hype about you this week, particularly the last couple of days. What have you done to chill out, take your mind off it?
BERNARD TOMIC: Uhm, well, you know, I tried to sleep last night. I couldn't till about 1. It was very hard for me. But I've been relaxing in my hotel. This is a very big match for me. As much relaxing as I could have got, I needed it.
I'm happy the way I played again. You know, I've learnt a lot.

End of FastScripts

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