Tomic to play for first title against Anderson
SYDNEY (AFP) –
Bernard Tomic of Australia returns a shot against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland during their quarter-final match at the Sydney International on January 10, 2013. Tomic will emulate Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer if he can win his first ATP Tour title after reaching the final on Friday.
Australian youngster Bernard Tomic will emulate Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer if he can win his first ATP Tour title after reaching the Sydney International final.
Tomic reached his first final with a 7-6 (12/10), 6-4 win over Italian third seed Andreas Seppi in sweltering heat to set up a decider against South African Kevin Anderson on Saturday.
Tomic will bid to become the first Australian winner of the event since Hewitt in 2005 and the first 20-year-old winner since Federer in 2002.
It is Tomic’s seventh straight win of the new year — three of them at the mixed teams Hopman Cup, including a triumph in Perth over world number one Novak Djokovic.
“It’s the start for me. It’s going to be a big match. I’m grateful for this opportunity. I think I’ve got a good shot to win it,” Tomic said.
“Obviously I’ve played Kevin once and won. He does serve well and he’s a difficult player, but the tennis I’ve been playing now I’m really confident. I’ll be ready to go tomorrow night.”
Kevin Anderson hits a volley against Fernando Verdasco of Spain at the Hopman Cup on December 29, 2012. Anderson on Friday fought off two match points to deny Frenchman Julien Benneteau and become the first South African to reach the final of the Sydney International.
Anderson earlier fought off two match points to deny Frenchman Julien Benneteau victory and become the first South African to make the Sydney final.
The 36th-ranked Anderson won 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10/8) in two hours 23 minutes.
Tomic struggled during a tough first set against Seppi and called for the trainer at 6-5 complaining of dizziness.
“It was really hot, but it wasn’t the heat that was affecting me. It was just the dizziness. I think maybe because I ate too soon prior to coming out on court,” he said.
The match swung the Australian’s way in a titanic 22-point tie-break, with Tomic winning on his third set point after fighting off four set points from Seppi.
He broke serve in the ninth game of the second set with a fortuitous net cord on break point and powered through his service game to win the match.
Anderson, 26, went one better than Wayne Ferreira, who was the last South African to play in a Sydney semi-final against Carlos Moya in 2004.
“This tournament has been going on for a while. There have been some very good South Africans in the past, most notably Wayne Ferreira,” Anderson said. “So, yeah, hopefully I’ll be able to take it one step further tomorrow.”
Anderson was down match point on his serve in the 12th game of the third set but saved it with a terrific second service ace — one of 18 for the match — and then held with a crosscourt backhand to take the set into a tie-break.
Benneteau, playing in the Sydney semis for the third time in four years, faced a match point at 6-5 in the tiebreak before he had a second match point at 7-6, only to shank a forehand off his racquet and waste the chance.
Anderson brought up his second match point with an ace but failed to capitalise. He had more luck with his third at 9-8, putting away a crosscourt winner at the net.