Mats Wilander has claimed that the improvements made by Bernard Tomic have put him on course to enjoy success at a Grand Slam.
After a bright start to his professional career, which included a quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon, Tomic has struggled to deliver on his potential in recent years.
However, Tomic has progressed to the fourth round of the Australian Open to set up a meeting with Tomas Berdych, and Wilander is confident that the 22-year-old can continue his impressive run in front of a hopeful Melbourne crowd.
When asked if he still believes that the Australian is capable of triumphing at a Grand Slam, the seven-time major winner told the Brisbane Times: "Easily. Oh yeah, for sure.
"Players mature at different times, and he was always very mature playing big matches, but not necessarily in the smaller tournaments. In tennis I think you realise after a while 'this is what I want to do', and it looks like this is what he's realised.
"He's a big-court player, and a big-match player, that's for sure, and everybody always thought he can win a major because of that, but people have to have respect for you as a player, they have to be scared of you, and that's not just done by doing well in the big tournaments, you have to do well in the small tournaments, so you beat all of them all the time. Then the road is much easier."
Reaching the fourth round in Melbourne is Tomic's best performance at a Grand Slam since being knocked out at the same stage at Wimbledon in 2013.
Callum Mulvihill
