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Australian Open Top Ten Men’s Contenders

By Christopher Weis

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Sep 5, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Bernard Tomic of Australia returns a shot to Richard Gasquet of France (not pictured) on day six of the 2015 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 5, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Bernard Tomic of Australia returns a shot to Richard Gasquet of France (not pictured) on day six of the 2015 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /

Bernard Tomic was long thought of as the “next big thing” in men’s tennis on the ATP. He started impressing people with his run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals as an 18-year old in 2011.  Big things were predicted and expected.

Then he started having “Johnny Manziel syndrome.” His off-court life became much more of a distraction, with him getting in trouble with the law multiple times.

On top of that, there was a whole controversy with his father (also, at the time, his coach) and the things that his father did.

Those days, however, do (largely) appear to be behind Tomic. Coached now by Tony Roche, Tomic is doing very well at the moment, turning in a very good 2015 season.

In Brisbane earlier this year, he went to the semifinals, losing two tiebreaks to eventual champion Milos Raonic. He is currently ranked 17th and is seeded 16th at the Australian Open thanks to the withdrawl of Richard Gasquet.

Tomic is, of course, a longshot to win the title. That being said, he has been playing a lot better recently and, of course, he has the homecrowd advantage.  He has delivered some good performances at the Australian Open in the past and with his improved play, perhaps he can turn a few heads and make a bit of a run here.

Next: 8. The Veteran Frenchman

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