On his day off from his groundbreaking run at Melbourne Park, Bernard Tomic sits next to a pretty girl in a pink dress and cracks a joke. The girl throws her head back and laughs. Meanwhile, Tomic’s much-talked-about girlfriend Donay Meijer looks on.
No, this was not a case of girlfriend catching boyfriend flirting with another woman, but instead Tomic’s foray into the mixed doubles draw at the Australian Open. The girl in the pink dress? That’d be former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic.
While Tomic has had his game face on for three electrifying wins in Rod Laver Arena, the 19-year-old is letting his guard down by playing mixed doubles – and having a little fun – with Jankovic. On Saturday afternoon the team paired together to take down Australian duo Ashleigh Barty and Ben Mitchell 6-1, 6-3 on Show Court 2.
It was a pairing that almost didn’t come to be: After speaking to Jankovic in Brisbane about teaming up, Tomic forgot to sign them up for the mixed draw, needing a reminder from a reporter earlier this week.
“Maybe I forgot to sign in. She'll kill me for that,” Tomic said, laughing. “Whoa, thanks for reminding me! Gee, I knew I forgot something the last few weeks.”
It’s that relaxed approach that many have keyed in on as a reason for Tomic’s continued success on the pressure-filled main court here. Bernie, as many affectionally know him, is soaking in this experience and even helping his little sister Sara stay loose for the junior competition.
“Go out and have fun,” he told her on Saturday. “Don’t worry about little things because the crowd will be on your side like they have been with me.”
It’s not only the crowd that has followed Tomic, but the papers as well. Meijer has seen her photo plastered on the front pages the last few days, suddenly a nationally-known face.
“All of a sudden you're out there and people know who you were. It can be a tricky thing,” Tomic said of the press coverage. “I'm happy the way I'm playing in this sport and the way I'm growing up in this sport.”
Tomic signed in to the mixed doubles just on time, and he and Jankovic looked as though they enjoyed themselves immensely on Show Court 2 on Saturday.
“We can speak Serbian together .. nobody else can understand,” Jankovic said after their win. “He feels like my younger brother on court. ‘Run! Do this!’”
While Jankovic’s “younger brother” was playing tennis on his day off, it didn’t sound as though he would be watching any. He told the press Friday night that he rarely watched matches on TV, save his ido – and next opponent – Roger Federer.
“To me, I don't enjoy watching tennis, but when Roger plays on TV, you know, it's a pleasure to watch,” he said.
“We were talking about tomorrow night’s matches, but I cannot really tell you what we were talking about,” Jankovic laughed. “You know, some there are not for public.”
The public surely loved the Tomic-Jankovic team on Show Court 2 as they took on Barty and Mitchell, a toned-down Tomic at one point raising his arms above his head to help the crowd along with the wave around the stadium.
“We Like to Party” was Jankovic’s favorite song sung by the crowd. They serenaded the duos throughout the match.
Tomic, who won the junior title here in 2008, notched his first-ever mixed doubles victory with Jankovic on Saturday. As for the Serbian, she nabbed a grand slam title in 2007 at Wimbledon with Brit Jamie Murray.
Both Jankovic and Tomic will take to the court in Sunday night’s evening session for their fourth round encounters, Tomic’s with Federer and Jankovic against world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki.
While the Serbian secrets stay on the doubles court, Jelena and Bernie will be cheering one another along in singles. And perhaps the relaxed distraction for the 19-year-old rising star could be the secret to more on-court success.
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