Bernard Tomic plays Jeremy Chardy in the first round of the Australian Open.
Tomic has been hailed as the future of Australian tennis for some years now but the time is rapidly approaching when the precocious teenager has to start delivering on his potential. His performances at the Australian Open over the past two years have generated much excitement. He powered his way to the second round on both occasions and last year pushed eventual semi-finalist Marin Cilic all the way, only just falling in a thrilling five setter.
However since then Tomic has gained a bit of a reputation as the 'bad boy' of Australian tennis. Altercations with Lleyton Hewitt and various other Australian legends have not looked good and there was some question as to whether Tomic would even receive a wildcard this year, particularly as his ranking is still only 208.
However he has his chance and it's a winnable opener against Chardy. The world number 44 has lost his last five matches including first round exits in Chennai and Sydney. Tomic has not created too many waves himself but he did qualify for Sydney and came close to beating Aleksandr Dolgopolov in the opening round so he is in reasonable form.
Prediction: Tomic in four sets
