Bernard Tomic has revealed how he rolled the dice and came up trumps to be in career-best form heading into the Australian Open.
Tomic will enter the Open at 17th in the rankings, but says he probably wouldn't be enjoying his lofty position had he not underwent unnecessary double hip surgery after his first-round loss in Melbourne two years ago.
The decision has paid off big time, with the 23-year-old's mobility improving leaps and bounds and the results there for all to see.
"With the better fitness and movement, I become more confident on court," Tomic said ahead of his Sydney International quarter-final on Thursday night.
"That's what I always needed. I also say another thing. I had the surgeries in, what was it, 2014? This was not a surgery that I needed.
"This is something that I chose. It was going to benefit me in the long run.
"It was whether I did it at the period of 21 or doing it at 26, 27 where I had problems in my hips.
"But I felt like I needed to at that time because I could recover quicker. Only took me three, four months to recover as opposed to, if I did it at 28, it would've taken me six, seven months.
"So I knew the whole 2014 time period when I came back was going to be a struggle.
"I somehow managed to win a tournament in Colombia on hard court, which was my fourth, fifth tournament back, which was truly for me remarkable.
"It's not easy having two hip surgeries in that spot. I was happy to play that amount of tennis last year that strengthened my hips, lower back, and it's showing now how it paid off."
Tomic slashed his ranking from 124th in the world in July of 2014 to be closing in a coveted top-10 spot.
"Somehow I managed 2014 to (end) 60 in the world," he said.
"Then 2015 came and each match I played, each tournament I played longer, I became more physically stronger and more confident I think due to the fact that I did those operations."
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