Ajla Tomljanovic out of Aus Open on eve of tournament

An Aussie ace has held back tears explaining her difficult decision to pull out from the Australian Open.

Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic is out of this year’s Australian Open. (Photo by Paul CROCK / AFP)

Australia’s sole women’s Open hope held back tears as she summed up her decision to pull out of the tournament with two words: “it sucks”.

Ajla Tomljanovic, ranked world no.33, stunned the tennis world when she withdrew on Saturday afternoon due to a nagging knee injury, announcing the news on Instagram shortly before 1pm and telling her fans she was “sorry”.

Fronting media just two hours later, a teary Tomjlanovic said she would’ve copped tennis’ version of a participation award had she decided to play on with the dodgy knee that “flared up” in December and simply hasn’t improved since.

“If I’m not ready to compete against the best, coming into an event like this, my goal is to make the second week, not just participate. I’m just not close to being at that capacity. It’s tough.

“This is the worst thing that really could have happened this year, and it did.”

Tomjlanovic said she was unsure exactly what the injury was, indicating she would consult specialists to “get more opinions on it”. She previously withdrew from the United Cup in late December with the same injury.

Ajla Tomljanovic is shattered after her decision to pull out from the Australian Open. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

“In December, it just flared up more than I liked. Got a little worried (but) I thought I would have taken care of it by now. But that wasn’t the case.

“I don’t really know moving forward what I’m going to do. I think I’m going to have to reevaluate.

“It’s never easy … it sucks.”

Tomjanovic was tasked with being Australia’s only plausible hope at going deep into the tournament after Ash Barty’s heroics 12 months ago. Australia has five women left in the draw, but all are ranked outside the top 100.

The 29-year-old said she felt like she “let certain people down”, including those in her corner and fans who planned on watching her play.

“This is probably the worst timing ever. If I’m taking a 15-second pity party, this shouldn’t have happened now.

“It’s the time when I’m feeling my best self in every way, coming into a slam truly feeling like I deserve to be even a contender.

“So in a way, am I going to have to start from scratch? Probably not. It feels a little unfair, but life’s unfair. Part of our job, injuries will happen.”

Open bombshell: Aussie ace’s withdrawal stuns tennis world

Aussie ace Ajla Tomljanovic has stunned the tennis world by withdrawing from the Australian Open on the eve of the tournament.

Tomljanovic was scheduled to front the media at 3pm on Saturday to discuss her chances of carrying on from Ash Barty’s glory 12 months ago.

But the 29-year-old took to Instagram shortly before 1pm to announce she had pulled out through injury.

“It absolutely pains me to have to write this message but unfortunately I won’t be able to compete at this years Australian Open,” Tomljanovic wrote.

“I’ve done absolutely everything in my power to get healthy but just ran out of time to heal and be 100% ready to compete at a high level.

Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic is out of this year’s Australian Open. (Photo by Paul CROCK / AFP) /

“It’s been a very tough decision to make but I have to listen to my body.

It’s no secret that this is my favourite place to play so it hurts to miss out on a great opportunity to play in front of my home crowd and to be surrounded by the incredible love and atmosphere.

“To all my Aussie fans, I wanna say thank you for always supporting me and cheering me on, I’m gonna miss you guys big time this year.”

Tomljanovic, who famously ended Serena Williams’ career at last year’s US Open, had been scheduled to play Nadia Podoroska in the first round.

Meanwhile, title contender Paula Badosa, who knocked Tomljanovic out of last year’s Australian Open will also miss the first Grand Slam of 2023.

The 11th seed had been in excellent form but withdrew after failing to recover from an injury she sustained at the Adelaide International.

Badosa posted on Twitter: “Bad news...During the quarterfinal match in Adelaide, I hurt myself and after receiving the results I will have to be out a few weeks.

“Sad to miss the Australian Open this year, really going to miss it. I will do everything I can to return as soon as possible.”

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