In her first match of 2023, Ajla Tomljanovic has loved success to renew her love-affair with the US Open, the place she was a quarterfinalist final 12 months.
New York Metropolis, United States, 28 August 2023 | Matt Trollope
A heart-warming story unfolded on Court docket 4 on the US Open as Ajla Tomljanovic posted a win over Panna Udvardy to advance to the second spherical.
Enjoying in her first match of 2023, a season decimated by a knee damage, Tomljanovic step by step discovered her vary to finish a 3-6 6-2 6-4 triumph.
She joins Daria Saville within the second spherical at Flushing Meadows, one other Aussie on the comeback path after an identical period of time on the sidelines as a result of a knee damage.
> READ MORE: Saville units up Swiatek showdown at US Open
Tomljanovic’s win units up a gathering with No.4 seed Elena Rybakina, who beat her in a three-set Wimbledon quarterfinal in 2022 en path to her first Grand Slam title.
Tomljanovic could not have hit these heights, however she is a three-time main quarterfinalist herself, most lately ultimately 12 months’s US Open.
That run was most notable for her beautiful third-round win over Serena Williams – the final match of the legendary American’s profession.
However Tomljanovic was unable to leverage the momentum she constructed with that consequence; she performed simply 5 extra occasions earlier than her knee damage took maintain.
Till Monday in New York, she had not performed a aggressive match in 9 months.
Alja Tomljanovic, a 2022 #USOpen quarterfinalist, will get via to Spherical 2 in three units. pic.twitter.com/g3uT3NoRDk
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 28, 2023
The Australian seemed understandably scratchy within the early phases of her match with Udvardy, and struggled along with her motion at finish vary. She completed the opening set with 15 unforced errors, in contrast with simply 4 winners..
However when the ball was in her strike-zone, she appeared to have misplaced none of her fearsome stroke manufacturing. And because the second set commenced, she started to land extra of these highly effective blows towards the Hungarian, whereas taking part in more and more clear tennis.
She slotted an ace down the T to carry for a 5-2 lead, and broke serve once more to ship the match to a 3rd set.
There, she fell behind a direct break, however recovered it within the fourth sport, and continued holding serve to nudge forward 5-4 within the third.
Former world No.4 Jelena Dokic, commentating for Channel 9, famous Tomljanovic was nonetheless taking part in aggressively but not aiming too near the strains, a wise tactic to make sure margin for error given her full lack of match play.
Ultimately, these techniques proved sufficient.
Within the closing sport, Tomljanovic outsteadied Udvardy, who double-faulted at hand the Aussie her first match level.
She wanted just one, forcing an error and masking her face in each disbelief and delight.
Aussies in motion – US Open
RESULTS
Girls’s singles, first spherical
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) d Panna Udvardy (HUN) 3-6 6-2 6-4
Daria Saville (AUS) d [WC] Clervie Ngounoue (USA) 6-0 6-2
[10] Karolina Muchova (CZE) d [WC] Storm Hunter (AUS) 6-4 6-0
Mirra Andreeva d [Q] Olivia Gadecki (AUS) 1-6 6-3 6-4
Jennifer Brady (USA) d [LL] Kimberly Birrell (AUS) 6-3 7-6(4)
Males’s singles, first spherical
[WC] Rinky Hijikata (AUS) d Pavel Kotov 7-5 5-7 6-3 7-5
[Q] Dominic Stricker (SUI) d Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3
COMING UP
Males’s singles, first spherical
[13] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v [Q] Timofey Skatov (KAZ)
Max Purcell (AUS) v Chris O’Connell (AUS)
Jordan Thompson (AUS) v Botic van de Zandschulp (NED)
Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) v [12] Alexander Zverev (GER)
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v [Q] Hsu Yu-Hsiou (TPE)
Jason Kubler (AUS) v Matteo Arnaldi (ITA)
[LL] James Duckworth (AUS) v [Q] Felipe Meligeni Alves (BRA)
Girls’s singles, second spherical
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v [4] Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Daria Saville (AUS) v [1] Iga Swiatek (USA)
Males’s singles, second spherical
[WC] Rinky Hijikata (AUS) v Marton Fucsovics (HUN)
> READ: Eleven Australians to contest doubles at US Open 2023
Ebook on-line, play at this time: Go to play.tennis.com.au to get out on court docket and have some enjoyable!
