Marin Čilić of Croatia, seeded sixth for the tournament, has been drawn to play home favourite Bernard Tomic in the first round of the Australian Open.
Watch & bet on Marin Čilić v Bernard Tomic live in the Australian Open with bet365 here* on Monday, January 14. The Čilić v Tomic match will be played from 9 pm local time (11 am BST).
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Marin Čilić – Serious Contender
Marin Čilić must be regarded as one of the dark horses to lift the trophy in two weeks’ time. The winner of the US Open in 2014, he was the beaten finalist last year, only losing in five sets to Roger Federer eventually.
And, with injury doubts over both Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev, and with Federer potentially past his best, the Croat may be best placed to capitalise, and claim his second Grand Slam title.
Bernard Tomic – Tennis Maverick and Perennial Under-Performer
Bernard Tomic has been known for years as the bad boy of Australian tennis, putting even compatriot Nick Kyrgios into the shade when it comes to attracting lurid headlines and unfavourable publicity.
After a brilliant junior career, Tomic began competing in professional events at the age of 15, and although he is just 26 years old now, has a record littered with misdemeanours on and off the court, including fines, suspensions and abuse of officials and fans, as well as a litany of brushes with the law.
Despite reaching a career high of 17 just three years ago, the intervening years have seen a plunge down the rankings and an unsuccessful foray into reality TV. And, in an interview with Australia’s Channel 7 programme, he admitted that he had never loved tennis, and that he had built his career on 50% effort.
Cilic v Tomic Head to Head
The pair have played each other three times before, although it has been three years since their last encounter at the Rogers Cup in August 2015, when Tomic won in straight sets. For their other two meetings, you have to go as far back as the second round of the US Open in 2011, or the same stage in Australia in 2010, both of which were won by Čilić.
Cilic v Tomic – Who will Win?
However, all these results came when Tomic was viewed as one of the most exciting prospects in world tennis, with a bright future ahead of him.
Disillusionment and boredom with the sport, a loss of form and injuries have seen him plunge down the rankings, whilst Čilić has maintained his place amongst the world’s elite. Tomic can be brilliant on his day – the problem is that those days are few and far between. Expect Čilić to progress from this match.
You can watch & bet on Marin Čilić v Bernard Tomic live in the Australian Open with bet365 here on Monday, January 14.
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