Tomic Youngest In Wimbledon QFs since 1986

© Getty ImagesTomic cruised to victory over Malisse in just 81 minutes.

Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic’s dream Wimbledon run continued Monday as he became the youngest man since Boris Becker in 1986 to reach the quarter-finals of The Championships. At the age of 18 years and 255 days, Tomic followed up his victory over World No. 5 Robin Soderling by dismissing 2002 semi-finalist Xavier Malisse 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 in the fourth round.

"I never thought I'd be here the second week, especially in the quarter-finals," said Tomic. "What a feeling and what a tournament it's been for me. It's an unbelievable achievement. I've learnt a lot. It's a great honour to do it here in Wimbledon. I'm at a position now where I've never been happier. I'm looking forward to playing on Wednesday."

In a dominant display, the Gold Coast native committed just eight unforced errors and fired 37 winners. He broke Malisse’s serve four times from 11 opportunities and saved the two break points he faced as he cruised to victory in just 81 minutes. He is the first qualifier to reach the last eight at Wimbledon since Vladimir Voltchkov in 2000.

"Since quallies, I tried to play a little bit more relaxed than I'm used to," explained Tomic. "I've been doing that ever since I qualified. Now I found my game, where I need it be, and that's to have fun, relax out there, not play under pressure. I think now I really learnt the way I should play my game."

As a result of his Wimbledon performance, Tomic will now become the No. 1 Australian, taking over from Lleyton Hewitt who has held the national top spot since 17 May, 2004. The right-hander impressed in a third-round defeat to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open in January and since then has posted strong results on the ATP Challenger Tour.

In the quarter-finals, Tomic will play World No. 2 Novak Djokovic, who defeated Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

"What a match it's going to be," declared Tomic. "To play against a guy like him that's No. 2 in the world, it doesn't get really better than that. He's obviously won Grand Slams before. My relationship's really good with him. I've hit with him a lot of times. He's a cool guy."  

Youngest Wimbledon Quarter-finalists

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