PERTH - Australian Bernard Tomic feels he has taken an important step in his fledgling tennis career after beating world No.1 Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-4 in their Hopman Cup clash at Perth Arena.
Tomic was at his sizzling best during the 84-minute romp on Wednesday night, unleashing 25 winners to 12 to notch his second career win over Djokovic.
Serbia ended up winning the tie 2-1 after Ana Ivanovic defeated Ashleigh Barty 6-2 6-3 before teaming with Djokovic to win the deciding mixed doubles 6-4 6-7 (10-8) 10-6 (match tiebreak).
The top-ranked Serbians will secure a spot in Saturday night's final with victory over Germany on Friday.
Tomic entered his singles match having lost all three of his ATP matches against Djokovic, including their quarter-final stoush at Wimbledon in 2011.
The 20-year-old Queenslander did get one over Djokovic in a light-hearted exhibition match at the Kooyong Tennis Classic in 2010.
But his latest victory marks a significant step forward in Tomic's bid to become a world beater down the track, with a gruelling training program during the off-season already paying dividends.
"This is especially something I needed before the Australian Open," Tomic said.
"I'm playing the best tennis I've played the last few years. So I'm really happy with myself.
"I'm just happy that after training the last few months, this is all coming good.
"The training's paying off. It's a huge feeling to do this."
Djokovic said he always knew Tomic had the talent to match it with the world's best.