Five-set matches at Wimbledon clearly suit Bernard Tomic just fine.
He was forced off by rain on Tuesday night with his contest against Fernando Verdasco poised at two sets all.
Then he had to contemplate another four-hour wait on Wednesday when the weather intervened once more with him sitting on a 5-3 lead.
Yet the No.19 seed from Australia kept his poise and his nerve to run out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 winner.
So four times in his seven appearances at The Championships the Australian has needed to see out a five-setter and his record stands at four out of four.
Rather than curse the weather Tomic admitted that the overnight delay had come at a convenient time. “I was a bit tired in the fourth set and was happy to get the chance to stop,” he said.
“But it also makes it tough because you have to go to sleep with one set to go and then you need to come out playing well.”
Tomic not only came out victorious from that fifth set, but showed much patience when he arrived on court alone and had to stand around for seven minutes for Verdasco, who appeared just as the crowd on No.2 Court launched into a slow handclap.
“Yeah, Fernando was getting something taped on when I left the locker room and I thought he was leaving, so unfortunately I had to stand around."
Verdasco was thus left a shorter time to warm up, or more accurately to defrost, on a decidedly chilly June day of wind and with spots of rain not making things easier. There were also occasional bad bounces.
The Spanish left-hander, a veteran of 53 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, suffered the crucial one at 2-2 when, at break point down, he could only return a skidding ball into the net.
It turned out to be the one service loss which turned the match Tomic’s way, though just before the rain set in he managed to extend his lead to 5-3 only after fighting off five break points in a game of seven deuces. So for a second time, he was not unhappy about the chance for a breather.
“That was a very big game, very emotional, because I should have lost that game,” he confessed. “For me, that was the key game.”
It was early evening by the time they got back onto court, and though Verdasco held serve to cut the deficit, Tomic did not falter when he stepped out to serve for a place in the second round, starting off with his 11th ace of the match.
Then he served well enough to force two errors on return to take him to match point, which was clinched with a thunderous service winner.
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