TENNIS: Australian tennis star Bernard Tomic epitomises the youthful exuberance that the Olympic Games brings to elite athletes when the world’s best athletes gather every four years.
Tomic is making his Olympic debut at the 2012 London Olympic Games and has been soaking up the unique atmosphere of the Village while preparing for his first round clash with Japan’s Kei Nishikori at Wimbledon.
The 19-year-old, ranked 49 in the world, takes on Nishikori, who comes into the Olympic Games as the world No. 18 in what will be a tough first up task for Tomic.
The pair has never met on the ATP Tour but spent time together as teenagers at the Nick Bollittieri Tennis Academy.
“I spent a year with him going through the Bollittieri Academy so we trained with each other a lot but I’ve never played him,” Tomic said.
On the eve of the tennis tournament Tomic also spoke positively about his Olympic experience.
“It’s very different to stay somewhere like here (Olympic Village) and to see people you see in sports around the world is interesting,” Tomic said. “It’s my first time at the Olympics and hopefully not my last.
“I was a big fan of basketball so I was looking up to Lauren Jackson. To be here with them and to be a part of this is huge for me.
“Hopefully I can do well and Australia can do well.”
Tomic is joined in the men’s singles by 2002 Wimbledon Champion and triple Olympian Lleyton Hewitt, who takes on Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhousky.
Hewitt goes into the Olympic Games ranked 158th in the world, 62 places behind his opponent, but received a wildcard after his ranking slipped during a long injury lay off earlier this year.
Australia’s sole representative in the women’s singles Samantha Stosur is ranked five in the world and takes on Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro, who she defeated in the first round of Wimbledon in June this year.
Stosur, who won the 2011 US Open, is also making her third appearance at an Olympic Games after representing Australia in singles and doubles in the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Stosur will also team up with Casey Dellacqua in the women’s doubles with the Australians drawn to meet Spanish pair Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
They will be joined in the women’s doubles by fellow Aussies Jarmila Gajdosova and Anastasia Rodionova who tackle Russia’s Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova.
Tomic is making his Olympic debut at the 2012 London Olympic Games and has been soaking up the unique atmosphere of the Village while preparing for his first round clash with Japan’s Kei Nishikori at Wimbledon.
The 19-year-old, ranked 49 in the world, takes on Nishikori, who comes into the Olympic Games as the world No. 18 in what will be a tough first up task for Tomic.
The pair has never met on the ATP Tour but spent time together as teenagers at the Nick Bollittieri Tennis Academy.
“I spent a year with him going through the Bollittieri Academy so we trained with each other a lot but I’ve never played him,” Tomic said.
On the eve of the tennis tournament Tomic also spoke positively about his Olympic experience.
“It’s very different to stay somewhere like here (Olympic Village) and to see people you see in sports around the world is interesting,” Tomic said. “It’s my first time at the Olympics and hopefully not my last.
“I was a big fan of basketball so I was looking up to Lauren Jackson. To be here with them and to be a part of this is huge for me.
“Hopefully I can do well and Australia can do well.”
Tomic is joined in the men’s singles by 2002 Wimbledon Champion and triple Olympian Lleyton Hewitt, who takes on Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhousky.
Hewitt goes into the Olympic Games ranked 158th in the world, 62 places behind his opponent, but received a wildcard after his ranking slipped during a long injury lay off earlier this year.
Australia’s sole representative in the women’s singles Samantha Stosur is ranked five in the world and takes on Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro, who she defeated in the first round of Wimbledon in June this year.
Stosur, who won the 2011 US Open, is also making her third appearance at an Olympic Games after representing Australia in singles and doubles in the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Stosur will also team up with Casey Dellacqua in the women’s doubles with the Australians drawn to meet Spanish pair Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
They will be joined in the women’s doubles by fellow Aussies Jarmila Gajdosova and Anastasia Rodionova who tackle Russia’s Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova.
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