Djokovic to take on Tomic & the Fanatics

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  • The Fanatics have cheered loudly for Australians at Wimbledon since 1997.

    Novak Djokovic is preparing himself to take on Bernard Tomic and his army of Aussie Fanatics who will undoubtedly be courtside for their upcoming third round match on Friday.

    The Fanatics, a group of Australian sports fans created in 1997 to support their home players, have been out in full force so far this week at Wimbledon, chanting and singing from the stands.

    Djokovic is no stranger to taking on Aussie opposition and when he faces Tomic, it will be a rematch of their quarter-final here in 2011, which the Serb won in four close sets.

    “I think it’s nice to see in the tennis that there are a group of guys coming to support their player,” said Djokovic, who is bidding for a third Wimbledon crown.

    “I think tennis maybe misses that a little bit more, more of I’d say Davis Cup atmosphere.

    “But you get used to it once you play in front of them, which I’ve done in Australia quite a few times against Lleyton Hewitt.

    “So I know what to expect. Bernard and Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis are three young players from Australia that are on the radar of the world of tennis, especially the world of Australia.

    “Everybody’s relying on them and cheering them on so they can be fighting for the biggest trophies. They definitely do have the quality. I’m going to play against one of them, so let’s hope I can play well.”

    Tomic exploded onto the scene when he made the quarters at the All England Club as an 18-year-old qualifier in 2011. Now 22, Tomic is ranked 26 in the world and is yet to match or register a better result at a major since then.

    He has undeniable talent but has had numerous injuries and off-court problems that have hampered his progress.

    “I do expect him to serve well, and I do expect him to mix up the game, come up with a lot of variety,” said Djokovic of Tomic. “That’s what he does. He’s got a lot of talent in his hands. He can play flat shots. He can play short slice, come to the net. He has a very quick motion for the serve. It’s very difficult to read it on grass. This is the surface that he loves playing the most on.”

    In the second round on Wednesday, Djokovic ended Jarkko Nieminen’s Wimbledon career with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory on Centre Court.

    The world No1’s celebration was muted as he went over to hug the 33-year-old Finn and gave him a standing ovation along with the crowd.

    “I have very nice relationship with Jarkko for many years. When I was coming into the professional tennis as an 18-year-old, I was playing a Challenger in Helsinki in Finland, that’s where I met him the first time,” said Djokovic.

    “Ever since then he’s been very kind to me. He’s one of the nicest guys on the tour that I know on the court and off the court.

    “Just out of respect. There are these moments. In the present moment, maybe you are not aware how important it is, it’s a milestone for him, it’s his last match in Wimbledon. I’m sure he wanted to enjoy it a little bit. So he deserved the ovation.”

    Nieminen got off to a great start, breaking Djokovic’s serve in the opening game with a backhand down the line winner before leading 2-0. But the lead was short-lived as Djokovic broke back in game six to draw level at 3-all.

    An outrageous backhand miss at the net from Nieminen gave Djokovic his first set point. And after a lengthy rally, Djokovic broke down the Nieminen backhand to take the set. The defending champion never looked back after that. He gave himself a seven or eight of ten for his performance.

    Later on Court 1, No4 seed Stan Wawrinka eased past Victor Estrella Burgos 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in 90 minutes to book a third round with Fernando Verdasco, who joined Hewitt as the only active players with 35 grand slam five-setters played in the Open Era (sixth on the all-time list) thanks to a 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 win over Austrian Dominic Thiem.

    Australian Nick Kyrgios had another run-in with an umpire en route to his straight sets win over Juan Monaco. The young Aussie, who faces Milos Raonic next, said: “I just thought he thought he was top dog in the chair really. He was telling me not to speak to him, all that stuff.”

    US Open champion Marin Cilic survived a difficult marathon with Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis before coming through 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-5.

    Last year’s semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov couldn’t get a break chance in the opening set before he switched gears to beat American Steve Johnson 7-6 (8), 6-2, 7-6 (2).

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