On the last shot of the match, Bernard Tomic was left to chase a Novak Djokovic backhand volley. Although the ball was behind Tomic, the young Australian didn't look in too much of a hurry to run it down. When the ball bounced twice without Tomic reaching it, Djokovic had secured a 6-3, 6-3 win in 69 minutes in the second round of the Rome Masters. At 19, Tomic played with a detached demeanor and a breezy approach that some might call a lack of urgency, but even as he fell to the world No. 1 rather routinely, he has to know that there will be other balls to chase and other opportunities to size up Djokovic.
Djokovic certainly looked happy and comfortable to be back on red clay at the Foro Italico stadium court. He pressured Tomic into five unforced forehand errors in the first three games and broke him twice in taking a quick 3-0 lead. Like his movement, the 6'5" Tomic has a suspect forehand, a shot he hits into the net quite often with his very flat delivery. Djokovic has not been the only player to take advantage of the Australian's weaknesses. After starting 2012 with a semifinal showing in Brisbane and a round-of-16 appearance at the Australian Open, Tomic has won only eight matches in nine subsequent tournaments.
But Tomic is not fazed easily. Displaying an exquisite backhand, he broke Djokovic down 5-2, only to have the top seed return the favor and take the first set. But Djokovic was starting to have to work harder to win games. Working hard agrees with Djokovic, who seems to be able to ratchet up his intensity without getting sloppy.
The match turned for good at 2-3, with Tomic serving in the second set. Djokovic, charging around the court with abandon, ran down a sizzling backhand deep into the forehand corner and somehow threw up a high lob over Tomic's left shoulder. The Aussie, caught flat-footed by Djokovic's great scampering, dumped the backhand overhead into the net. A break ensued and Tomic didn't recover until Djokovic held a 5-2 lead. Tomic held serve even after Djokovic pulled off another display of incredible court coverage, plastering a seismic forehand at full stretch and then hitting the most delicate of backhand drop shot winners.
Tomic could only raise his racquet over his head and clap the strings after seeing Djokovic fully extend himself once again. The youngster isn't ready for such effort and heroics yet, but all he has to do is look at Djokovic's record in his first four matches against Roger Federer to gain hope. Federer, almost six years older than Djokovic, handled the not-ready-for-prime-time Serb rather easily back then. Now Djokovic has beaten Tomic soundly in their first two matches. But Bernie still sports a boy's body, and when he fully develops, Djokovic, who is nearly five-and-a-half years Tomic's senior, may have to deal with a much more mature, hungry and capable player.