Bernard Tomic believes he's never been better placed to do some damage at Wimbledon following his impressive semi-final run at the Queen's Club this week.
Tomic's golden week came to an end at the hands of Canadian third seed Milos Raonic on Sunday, with a 62-minute 6-4 6-4 defeat denying him a first-ever grass court final.
But Tomic showed enough through his powerful service games and guile around the court to suggest he will be a genuine danger to the big names at Wimbledon later this month - and he believes he's never taken better form into the Championships.
"Absolutely ... all the previous years before I was losing first round on grass at Queen's and Eastbourne maybe making a quarter," Tomic said.
"So this has been my so far best lead-up tournament before Wimbledon. I've beaten quality players and I'm feeling good, and I have to prepare now and hopefully have no injury bothers."
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In a memorable week, Tomic knocked off world No.18 Gilles Muller and No.20 Kevin Anderson, as well as the tricky Fernando Verdasco, en route to his maiden semi-final appearance at the Queen's Club.
It came after a week in which he reached the quarter-finals of the ATP in 's-Hertogenbosch, which he feels sparked his impressive start to the grass-court season.
The hot run has lifted Tomic to 19th in the world and on the cusp of a valuable top-16 seeding should injuries derail the campaigns of those above him - as they have done with world No.5 Rafael Nadal, who is sidelined with a wrist injury.
"This week I was playing good tennis early on against Anderson and Verdasco, and Gilles yesterday I was playing very confident. That's what I need," said Tomic, whose best return at Wimbledon remains his quarter-final charge in 2011.
"Hopefully I can get ready physically for Wimbledon and do my damage as a seed and maybe play the tennis I have played in the past few years at Wimbledon where I have played really well."
Tomic's fine play this week certainly caught the eye of world No.2 Andy Murray, who praised the young star's locker-room reputation and fast, unorthodox playing style.
"He's not that easy to read. He plays very quickly between the points, He doesn't give you loads of time to think out there," Murray said.
"He can play all the shots. He's got unbelievable hands (and) a really nice slice.
"He has good feel on the court (and), I think, good tennis IQ.
"He knows how to win matches. He has very good anticipation, as well."
