Djokovic recognises Tomic danger

Novak Djokovic
12 April 2012

Novak Djokovic thinks he could face the toughest challenge of his Wimbledon campaign yet when he takes on teenage practice partner Bernard Tomic in Wednesday's quarter-final.

Two days after a scare against Marcos Baghdatis, Djokovic looked back to his imperious best as he swatted aside 19th seed Michael Llodra in a 6-3 6-3 6-3 win.

But to reach the last four Djokovic will first have to beat Tomic, who claimed the prize scalp of fifth seed Robin Soderling to set up a victory over Xavier Malisse. The Serbian said: "We have had many opportunities to practise with each other over the last few years so we know each other's game well."

He added: "He can be very dangerous because he doesn't have anything to lose really. He's in quarter-finals, and I'm sure he's going to step into the court willing to win.

"He believes that he can win against the top players, and he has been doing that very comfortably in last couple of rounds here in Wimbledon."

Tomic, born in Germany to Bosnian and Croatian parents, moved to Australia when he was two and started playing when he was seven.

Djokovic spotted Tomic's talent while he was playing on the juniors circuit three years ago and believes that the youngster is a star of the future.

"He has great potential, a great talent and he's showing that right now," Djokovic said.

"He is a qualifier so he has a lot of games on grass under his belt. He loves playing on this surface.

"If you analyse his game, you can see that he loves playing on the fast surfaces. He just has these flat shots. He doesn't give you a lot of time and he serves really well. He doesn't make many unforced errors so it's going to be exciting match."

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