BERNARD Tomic says he has never felt fitter and his confidence is sky high as he -prepares for his eighth Australian Open.
The top-ranked Australian bowed out of the Brisbane International with a tight 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) semi-final loss to fourth seed Milos Raonic on Pat Rafter Arena yesterday. But he announced his emergence as a serious contender at Melbourne Park by defeating world No.8 Kei Nishikori in the quarter-final and pushing Raonic to the wire.
"I think last year on tour really proved that I can match up with the big guys," Tomic said.
"I got my fitness up. I'm just happy to be this fit and feeling this good on court.
"This week was very, very good tennis from me. I think I can improve a lot, which is the good thing for me. This is probably the best I've been feeling on court physically, and very confident every point I play." But Swiss Roger Federer wants to see consistent performances from Tomic like those against Raonic and in beating Nishikori before considering him a true top-10 contender.
"He's been good, but the top 10 is another story," Federer, who will take on Raonic in today's final, said of the world No.18. "The year is not just one month long or one week long. It's 52 weeks. It's every day. That he's been struggling to show, to be quite honest.
"Many seasons now we have seen or heard that top 10 is the goal, and he's missed out on it by a long shot. We shall see."But beating Nishikori is always a good measuring stick because he makes you play a lot of balls. He's usually very tough to beat once you're in the third or fifth set."