Bernard Tomic Has The Weight Of A Nation On His Shoulders

During every grand slam there is a tremendous amount of pressure on the players who are playing in their home country. The fans expect a strong showing from their hometown players and expect them to perform well on the biggest stage and in front of the home crowd. However, players have not fared well in their home country in recent major history.

The last time a French player won the French Open was in 1983 when Yannick Noah beat Matts Wilander in the final 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3). A French player has not even reached the finals at the French Open since Noah won the title that year and no French player has won the French Open beside Noah since Frenchman Marcel Bernard won all the way back in 1946, which was 66 years ago.

Anybody who has watched Wimbledon the past few years knows the almost unreal amount of pressure on Andy Murray to win the tournament, as the British fans are dying to see a champion from the United Kingdom. A British player has not played in a Wimbledon final since Bunny Austin when he lost to Don Budgein the 1938 final 6-1, 6-0, 6-3. Fred Perry is still the last British player to win Wimbledon, as he beat Gottfried von Cramm of Germany in the 1936 final 6-1 6-1, 6-0.

Of all the majors, the U.S. Open has had the most success with players from their home country. However, an American has not won the U.S. Open in 8 years since back in 2003 when Andy Roddick beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final to win his first and only major 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3. This is America's longest drought without a U.S. Open champion from the United States since an American didn't win the title from 1956 to 1967, which is over 45 years ago. In fact, an American hasn't appeared in a U.S. Open final for the past 5 years since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer in the 2006 final 2-6, 6-4, 5-7, 1-6. This is America's longest drought ever without having a player appear in a U.S. Open final.

The Australian players have also struggled at their own national tournament in their home country. Mark Edmondson is the last Australian to win the Australian Open when he beat fellow Aussie John Newcombe in the 1976 final 36 years ago 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1. The Australian fans have been teased since 1976 with tons of high quality players who have come so close to winning their national title but have fallen just short. Since 1976, five times an Australian player has won a major. However, none of those grand slam victories have come at the Australian Open.

When Pat Cash was playing Davis Cup matches at the age of 18 for Australia, he was destined to be the next great Aussie. Although Cash won Wimbledon in 1987, he failed to ever win the Australian Open. In the 1987 final, Cash lost to Stefan Edberg after crawling back from 2 sets to love down in a tough five set battle 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6. The following year he appeared in the final once again but he lost a heartbreaking four hours and a half match to Mats Wilander 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 1-6, 6-8.

Despite winning the U.S. Open in 1997 and 1998 and reaching the finals of Wimledon in 2000 and 2001, Patrick Rafter was never able to make an Australian Open final. In 2001, he lost a thrilling match to eventual champion Andre Agassi in five tight sets 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 3-6 in the Australian Open semifinals.

Mark Philippoussis of Australia reached the U.S. Open final in 1998 and the Wimbledon final in 2003 but he was never able to make it past the 4th round of the Australian Open, as he lost in that round of the tournament in 1996, 1999, 2000, and 2004. In his 1999 round of 16 match, Philippoussis had the Aussie fans going crazy and wild, as he won the third and fourth sets after dropping the first two but he fell in the fifth set to Thomas Enqvist after bringing the match the distance.

Former world number 1 Lleyton Hewitt won the U.S. Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002 but he lost in the Australian Open final in 2005 to Marat Safin. Once again the Aussie fans were so close to having a champion from their home country, as Hewitt took the first set pretty convincingly over Safin 6-1. However, Safin fought back to win the next three sets much to the disappointment of the fans 3-6, 4-6, 4-6.

Australian tennis fans are dying for an Australian player to make a run in this year's tournament and with Lleyton Hewitt well past his prime and struggling with all of his injury woes, the fate of Australian tennis has fallen on the shoulders of Bernard Tomic.

Tomic, who is just 19 years old, has been touted as the next great Australian tennis player since he cracked the pro scene back in 2009 at the age of 17. However, he is rather inexperienced and at such a young age it is very difficult to deal with all the the pressure and hype. Tomic has even admitted that he is feeling the pressure of playing in front of his home fans. He said, "It's a bit different now. Last year I was a bit younger. I could play a little bit freer. Now people expect a lot from me."

The other players on the tour can also feel all the attention surrounding Tomic. Sam Querrey said that there is definitely a buzz surrounding the big 6 foot 5 inch Aussie. If that buzz was felt before the tournament, it it is being heard now like a 10.0 earthquake on the richter scale now, as the Aussie fans are exuberant with Tomic's early success in the tournament with his three victories over #22 Fernando Verdasco, Sam Querrey, and #13 Alexandr Dolgopolov.

It appeared as if Tomic was going to make an early exit from this year's first major, as he lost the first two sets to the Spanish lefty Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-7 (3-7). However, as Tomic began to climb his way back into the match and cut down on his unforced errors, he was able to use the crowd enthusiasm to get back into the match. Tomic was able to win the next two sets decisively before pulling out a tight fifth set 7-5 with an electric atmosphere on Rod Laver arena. The four hour and 11 minute struggle was an incredible victory for the young Aussie and just the second five set victory of his career.

Tomic got off to a rocky start in his first ever night match at the Australian Open against Sam Querrey. He dropped the first set to the big hitting American 3-6. However, Tomic rallied to win the new three sets 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Tomic was able to limit his unforced errors, as Querrey struggled to find his consistency. Querrey had 50 unforced errors in the four set match, while Tomic had just 29.

Just when you thought that Tomic mania couldn't get any bigger down under, it has after his incredible 3 hour and 49 minute marathon match with Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine. In a match that had a combined 35 aces and 121 winners, Tomic was able to eek out the tight victory in five sets 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 6-3. The excitement from the crowd was a sight to see, as Tomic was able to once again win a night match on Rod Laver Arena.

But all good stories have to come to an end sometime, right? Tomic's next opponent is none other than 17 time Grand Slam winner and 4-time Australian Open winner Roger Federer. There will certainty not be a lack of star power or fan enthusiasm for that one.