Tennis: I didn’t give 100%, says beaten Tomic

Australian suffers first-round straight-sets exit against Mayer.

SHANGHAI: Australian teenager Bernard Tomic admitted he had given only ‘85 percent’ in his 6-4, 6-0 defeat at the Shanghai Masters, saying the pressures of the tennis tour were taking their toll.

The 19-year-old won just eight points in a miserable second set of his first-round clash against Germany’s Florian Mayer for yet another early tournament exit in a disappointing season. His Shanghai flop comes just weeks after he was branded ‘disgraceful’ by Davis Cup team captain Pat Rafter following his US Open defeat at the hands of Andy Roddick.

“Today I gave 100 per cent in the first set,” said Tomic. “I felt in the second set, my 100 per cent wasn’t even close to where it should be. The mental skill is one of my biggest problems.”

Tomic admitted it had been tough-going in 2012 after a breakthrough year in 2011 during which he reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

“It’s been a long year. I played a lot of tournaments. Haven’t had time to rest. I think it’s costing me now, the last few months. My performance has not been as good. It’s been a massive road this year. I didn’t plan my schedule as I should have and it’s cost me a lot of matches that I probably should have won.”

In other matches, Kei Nishikori cruised through his opener against China’s Wu Di 6-2, 6-4 in his first round match. Meanwhile, John Isner booked his place in the third round by beating Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (9/7). Elsewhere, Gilles Simon knocked out Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 6-2 and Stanislas Wawrinka battled past Albert Ramos 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/5).

The top three seeds – Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – all open their campaigns today after first-round byes for the top eight seeds.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2012.