The third installment of Matt Tewhatu’s 2014 predictions series forecasts a bright season for an enigmatic youngster.

A new day dawns in the career of Bernard Tomic.

He has been labelled everything from an “immature brat” to “flawed genius” but no one can deny that Tomic possesses pure skill and ability. At just the tender age of 21, he has faced heavy criticism with his team, his game style and his character consistently coming under fire.

But with a new coach, a new year on the horizon and a new chance beckoning, Australian Bernard Tomic gets yet another opportunity to prove to the world that he can bridge the maturity gap and become the player he needs to be to be successful on the ATP World Tour. Plagued by recent reports that he has been hitting the nightclubs over the off-season, Tomic has done little to ease doubts over his playing future. Still, a relaxing and refreshing break can do wonders for a player’s psyche, and it may prove incredibly beneficial to a player who has so far struggled to deal with the weight of expectation. In the past few years, Tomic’s talent has sporadically emerged. But at times he has shown that he can more than match it with the ATP top 20.

This is why 2014 will be the year that Bernard Tomic shakes off his team’s unstable past and his personal issues and cracks the top 20.

The tennis world was led to believe that 2013 marked a key breakthrough for Tomic when he won his first singles title at Sydney in January after defeating the then-world No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Hopman Cup. But most of his season was hindered by personal instability, most notably his father being found guilty for assaulting one of Tomic’s hitting partners. Despite this recurring personal instability, Tomic was more than competitive at the Australian Open where he pushed Roger Federer before losing in three sets in the third round. The confident and attacking version of Tomic also reappeared at Wimbledon, where Tomic outlasted ninth seed Richard Gasquet in four sets, one of the highlights of his year. The fact that he also recovered well to test Berdych in the fourth round shows the fight that the young Australian possesses.

Although he has not survived the third round of any tournament since losing that match to Berdych, Tomic still managed to finish 2013 with a win loss record of 25-22, which is a steady improvement on his results since 2010. These results very much reflect a player on the rise, but they are not the only reasons why Tomic can be a huge threat to the top 20 in 2014.

Since achieving success in his junior years, Tomic’s physical build has been formidable, but he also has developed a game plan that is simple and suited to his build. Using his wide wingspan when forced onto the defensive, he launches all-out attacks with his inside-out and cross-court forehand when the opportunity arises. Tomic rarely engages in long rallies, and his style can be effective against players in the top 20. This game style has come under heavy criticism in the past, but it proved successful against players unused to the kind of arhythmic tennis that Tomic can produce when he performs at his best.

While there is no denying that Tomic has the arsenal to reach the top 20, the biggest test for the youngster lies in whether he has the emotional capabilities and the team to assist him in his ascent. In a surprising, positive move, Bernard and his father have appointed little-known Croatian coach Velimir Zovko. This figure will attempt to iron out some of Bernard’s mental shortcomings while John Tomic serves the ban given to him by the ATP.

Although Tomic possesses the talent, the skill and the ability to compete with the game’s best on the court, it is his off-court issues that have until now hindered him in ascending the world rankings. Unlike many others on the ATP circuit, however, Tomic has been given the opportunity of a new dawn in a new year to reflect on what he wants to achieve in his tennis career. With an off-season spent away from the game refreshing his energies for a grueling year ahead, he will grasp the opportunity with both hands and complete a remarkable turn around to climb the rankings in 2014.