Sydney, Australia, 8 January 2013 | AAP

Swimming star James Magnussen has jumped on the Bernie Tomic bandwagon and at this rate the rest of the country will too.

Magnussen was a conspicuous observer in Tomic’s courtside front-row box as the 20-year-old claimed bragging rights with a convincing victory over outclassed Australian No.1 Marinko Matosevic at the Sydney International on Tuesday night.

Tomic reigned 6-3 6-4 in the much-hyped clash of the Davis Cup outcasts to continue his impressive unbeaten start to the summer.

“James Magnussen, thanks for coming out mate,” Tomic said as he basked in the glory of his latest triumph.

“I’m good friends with James. He was on the Gold Coast a few weeks and he spent some time there and we caught up.

“I know him from the Olympics. He’s a great guy so I thought I’d invite him down to watch the tennis and I’m sure he’ll come to a few more of my matches.

“It’s good to have people like that in your box.”

Tomic’s success over Matosevic follows three wins at the Hopman Cup in Perth, including a stunning straight-sets dispatch of world No.1 Novak Djokovic.

Unlike struggling countrywoman Samantha Stosur, who has lost her past five matches in Australia, Tomic thrives while playing in front of home fans.

He has now won 15 of his past 17 matches in Australia since the start of last summer, his only defeats coming at the hands of grand slam champions Roger Federer at the Australian Open and Andy Murray in Brisbane.

“I love it. I’ve never had trouble playing in Australia,” he said.

Apart from being able to seize back his Australian top ranking if he goes on to win the tournament, Tomic’s immediate reward is a second-round shot at redemption against Florian Mayer on Wednesday.

Mayer defeated Tomic in straight sets in Australia’s Davis Cup World Group play-off loss in Hamburg last September.

“Tomorrow’s a good revenge (opportunity) for me,” Tomic said.

“I played Florian twice last year and got my arse kicked both times.

“Hopefully this time I can beat him.”