Australian Open 2012: Tomic Versus Dolgopolov - Preview

Bernard Tomic and Alexandr Dolgopolov will meet in the third round on Friday, the 20^th January. Both have had marathon matches in the first two rounds. Dolgopolov has played eighty six games in ten sets and Tomic has played ninety three games in nine sets. Tomic is four years younger and five inches taller than Dolgopolov.

Tomic improved his performance from the first match in almost all fields. He reduced his unforced errors by one third in the second round. It appears that there were some nerves in the first match. He hit one and a half time more winners than in the first match. All this augurs well for his next round match with Dolgopolov. Dolgopolov’s performance has gone down from the first match. He was much more error prone in the second match and his winners were not many more. He is yet to acquire the mental strength of a champion, but having faced an Australian in the first round, he can be expected not to wilt under the crowd pressure.

Dolgopolov has won all the three previous meetings, but Tomic took the first set in both the encounters in 2011. Tomic has since come of age and it will be a different type of encounter on Friday. Dolgopolov has a better first serve but a rather poor second serve which is likely to be exploited by Tomic. Dolgopolov has more variety in his game and can spring surprises in the form of drop shots or placements. Being a light weight, he is a very good mover on the court. Tomic does not move as well, being a tall guy. Dolgopolov will get more aces past Tomic but his first serve percentage may be around 60% only. First serve percentage of Tomic is likely to be a bit higher but he is not as good in the aces department. Ultimately, it will boil down to the resolve to win. Bernard Tomic is likely to have a greater motivation to win on the home soil and the crowd will try their best not to let him down.