MELBOURNE -- The world No. 27 Bernard Tomic says that he can crack the Top 10 this year, despite questions about his level of physical fitness.
Tomic recently admitted he had been "fat" coming off the off-season, but was now in better shape. He also questioned the importance of fitness in climbing the rankings.
“There are 50 people fitter than me between the top 70 to 150 in the world. There are some players not as fit as me inside the top 10 in the world,” he said. “Will fitness help them? I don't think so. I feel obviously the big servers, [John] Isner, [Milos] Raonic, [Nick] Kyrgios, [Ivo] Karlovic are there. I don't think fitness can help them. I think there are many fitter players than me that are outside the top 100 in the world. I think we can skip this question.”
The 24-year-old Aussie has gone up and down over the years, but in Australia, he gets pumped up. Last year, he got to the second week and lost in the round of 16 against Andy Murray in straight sets. In 2015, he again reached the fourth round and lost against Tomas Berdych. In 2014, he retired in the first round against Rafa Nadal, and won the 2013 Sydney event before falling in the 3rd round against Roger Federer in that year's Australian Open.
Tomic says that he is again “pretty confident.” He will face a veteran, Thomaz Bellucci, in the first round.
“He's beaten a lot of top players. I think [Thomaz] reached almost top 20 in the world, won multiple titles,” Tomic said. “ For me, he's a top 10 to 15 player on clay. It's going to be tough. He's one of those players, where if he's playing well, he's not an easy player to play. I have to come into this match 100% from the first point. That's going to be very important for me.”
Bellucci has yet to reach the second week in the Aussie Open. “Everybody can beat everybody here,” Tomic said. “It's a Grand Slam. Everyone is playing to win, playing for themselves at the best level. They've prepared their best. For me this first round is important.”