Tomic aims to break into world's top 10

Dubai - Australian Bernard Tomic hopes to make hay - and headway - on home soil in the New Year as he bids to break into the world's top 10 in 2016.

The 23-year-old, who is representing IPTL franchise the Micromax Indian Aces here in the emirate this week, is currently at a career-high 18th in the global rankings ahead of the new season.
Tomic would like nothing more than to improve his standing in the men's game though and he intends to do exactly that by going deeper in the more prestigious, points-scoring events and devising a smarter schedule that allows him to peak at just the right times.
"I have to start strongly and really play well in the Australian summer and - after that - just remain consistent like I was in 2015," the Stuttgart-born pro said.
"I'd really love to get in the top 10. On paper, it doesn't look so far away; it's six, seven or eight spots.
"But, it's very difficult so I have to start winning some bigger titles to get the opportunity to move inside the top 10.
"I'll prepare much better than I did for tournaments and obviously not play as many as I did this year.
"Once you get in that block of top 20 or 30 players and you get seeded positions, you need to be fresh for all of the tournaments you play and that's one thing that I have to do in 2016 - be really ready for every tournament I play."
Tomic then wants to get off to an encouraging and fast start come January and he's only too aware that a concerted effort needs to be put in now during the short off-season for that objective to come to fruition.
"I'm doing as much as I can to train and motivate myself, so - when I get back and have that two or three-week block - I can really push myself hard," Tomic explained.
"People don't realise we only have a few more weeks to go and then 2016 starts again. It's very quick. "That's obviously good for the players that have been playing for the last two weeks (on the IPTL circuit), but I feel like - when I get back- I need to really work hard for the next two to three weeks to be ready."
Tomic - like his fellow compatriot Nick Kyrgios - has been the subject of some negative publicity over the past 12 months or so and a reduction in the off-court stories could well aid his on-court success.
"We both have (made headlines for the wrong reasons) a bit," he admitted. "I myself probably wasn't in the right headlines this year, so I know what he's going through.
"But, he's staying positive and he's working on good things. Everyone has a different personality and different character."
alex@khaleejtimes.com