Wimbledon 2013: Talking Points from Day 5

Battle of the attitudes

Richard Gasquet

Probably the most intriguing match of the day is the curtain raiser on Centre Court tomorrow – Richard Gasquet vs Bernard Tomic. Tomorrow will see them face each other for the first time on grass after Gasquet beat Tomic at Indian Wells earlier this year. Since then, Tomic looked a different man against Sam Querrey in the first round compared to the one that stagnated after the Australian Open while Gasquet is coming off that deflating defeat to Wawrinka at the French.

Gasquet has become a stable member of the top 10 since his return at the end of the year and Tomic’s best run of his career came at Wimbledon two years ago but this will be a battle of the mind.

Both men have been accused of mental fragility in the past so it’ll be interesting to see how one of them will react to going two sets down. Tomic fought hard against Querrey, he had to survive nine break points in the first two sets, and ultimately prevailed whilst Gasquet went walkabout against Go Soeda in the third set while cruising. That will give Tomic hope he can knock out his second seed of the tournament and to get his career back on track.