Then, suddenly, one player would step in and deliver a flat, speedy rapier of a shot into the corner. And the whole point would change gear from first to fifth. For anyone who worries that modern tennis has become stereotyped, it was a wonderful sight – an entire sport being reinvented by a pair of fearless young Turks.
Andy Murray is one of the many observers who have been lining up this week to compliment Tomic, whose first three matches have occupied 14 sets and lasted a combined total of 10 hours and 13 minutes. “Tomic has just got a funky game, so different to everyone nowadays,” said Murray. “It’s great to watch.”
Another tribute came from the great French artist Henri Leconte, who compared Tomic to Miloslav Mecir, the famously gifted Czech who won Olympic gold in 1988. “Tomic is fun because he has his own technique,” Leconte said yesterday. “He reminds me of Mecir because he changes the pace, you don’t know where the next shot is coming from.”
In all the excitement, it would be easy to forget Federer, who came through a demanding examination against Ivo Karlovic in straight sets yesterday. Karlovic is a 6ft 10in Croatian whose serve provides what cricket-fans call “chin music”. He is appallingly hard to break, especially as he comes to the net on every service point, towering over the court and stretching out his giant wing-span.
Federer needed a bit of a fortune when Karlovic held set point at 6-5 in the first-set tie-break. After a Karlovic drop-volley, the Swiss attempted to lob the tallest skyscraper in tennis, and remarkably it worked – perhaps because it was such an unexpected tactic. From there, Federer pulled off a scorching backhand return to close out the set. The rest of the match was downhill all the way.
So now it is Federer and Tomic – the established master and the young apprentice – who will contest the highest-profile tie of the tournament. For Tomic, it is a bonus that they played a Davis Cup match in September (which Federer won in four sets) because it got him over the breathless excitement of facing a man he has worshipped since he was 12.
“He was like my idol,” said Tomic yesterday. “To me, he's the best player to play. I love watching Roger even on TV now and in the past. Back three, four years ago, I started slicing a lot watching him and developing a slice like that. Now I have a really, really good slice, thanks to him.”
As for Federer, he admitted that he wasn’t sure quite what to expect. “Obviously being young makes Tomic still somewhat of a mystery,” he said. “Just because he's changing his game as he's progressing along the way.”
Unless their match is a one-sided letdown, this will be a rare example of a Grand Slam tournament that peaks halfway though. As far as the home audience is concerned, Tomic has already installed himself as the man of the tournament. The question of who lifts the title is of secondary concern.
