Bernard Tomic thanks absent father for good run in tournament

London: Bernard Tomic put his run to the Wimbledon last 16 down to behind-the-scenes coaching work with his father John, who remains banned from entering the grounds to see the Australian number one play.

Tomic is facing a fourth round clash with Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych on Monday and thinks his dad`s training can give the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up plenty to think about. The world number 59 said if he reached the quarter-finals, he would consider going back to the All England Club and asking again if they could lift the ban, which applies to him entering the grounds as a coach and even as a spectator. John Tomic faces a court date in Madrid later this year over an alleged attack on his son`s former hitting partner Thomas Drouet. He is staying in London with his 20-year-old son and their off-court chats seem to be paying dividends. "I`m playing very well. I`m feeling very happy. Nothing`s bothering me," Tomic said. "When I leave the grounds and go somewhere different, you don`t see what I`m doing with my dad. I could be practicing, I could be working on stuff. You see the results, but you don`t know exactly what`s happening. "`Your father`s not here, you`re doing very well, do you need him, don`t you need him.` That`s not an appropriate question to ask because he`s my dad. It`s family. "When I leave the site, I`m with my dad. He`s helping me at this tournament. We`re doing the right things. "This is why the results are showing off now. I`m not doing it on my own. My dad is still involved. That`s why I`ve got to where I am in this tournament and the results have shown." Asked whether his father might have snuck in and beat the ban, he said: "You don`t know with my dad. You just don`t know." Tomic said his training was geared to putting in his best performances at the Grand Slams, after reaching the fourth round of a major for the third time. He beat French ninth seed Richard Gasquet 7-6 (9/7), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) in the third round on Saturday and reckons he can give his next opponent a dose of the same. "Now I`m playing someone different, Tomas Berdych, who is a very, very good player. I`m going to have to study up on that, work with my team and my dad to give myself the best chance of winning." He watched a bit of Berdych`s third round match, where he beat South Africa`s Kevin Anderson 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. "It`s not easy because Tomas is very strong. He hits a big ball. You`ve got to be ready. I think I can use what I have and really give it to him because I think if I play my tennis, he`s not going to like what I have to offer." Berdych concurred with that assessment. "He is a very tough and tricky opponent," the Czech said. "He`s one of the best results on grass. He can really, really be dangerous. His game is very different to the other guys. I think patience is definitely going to be the word to stick on." Berdych has quickly built up a 20,000-strong Twitter following, with his wry observations. "I see that so many people seem quite boring so you need to have some fun around," he said. AFP