‘Big one’ for Ajla Tomljanovic: win over Petra Martic the first since battling knee injury

Ajla Tomljanovic was uncharacteristically relishing her marathon win over Petra Martic, a ‘big one’ after being forced out of the sport by a knee injury.

Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic hits a return against Croatia's Petra Martic. Picture: Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP

Ajla Tomljanovic doesn’t normally dwell on her wins. Moves onto the next match. But she’s dining out on this one. Celebrating her marathon, three-set, post-midnight win over Petra Martic at the Australian Open – her first victory at Melbourne Park since being forced out of the sport by a knee injury.

“This win gives me a lot of confidence going into the next one, but at the same time I just really want to enjoy this moment because it’s a big one,” Tomljanovic said after beating Petra Martic 7-6 (7/3), 4-6. 6-4.

“I tend to move on to the next really quickly. I probably should because it’s coming quick but I just really feel like this is a big one for me. I don’t know why, but I probably do know why. I feel like sometimes you guys and everyone, you don’t see me for a year, and no one really knows how it was. I just mean that because it’s normal. You’re not with me every day.

“Tonight was just a huge kind of reward that feels amazing. You don’t know when you’re coming back from surgery, if you’ll come back. It’s a gamble in a way, going under the knife. Yeah, I’m just very, very, very happy that I’m here.”

She was very, very, very resilient against Martic. Recovered from 1-4 in the final set to win in two hours and 53 minutes. She progressed to a second-round date with Jelena Ostapenko.

“I promised myself if I get another chance in AO with a close match, I really want to just come out with not feeling regret, which is the worst thing you can carry,” she said.

“Then getting the win, I don’t know, I really believe that it kind of comes back to you at some point. As long as you just keep going at it.

“I know even rehabbing, I wrote down in my journal that I can’t wait for that moment when you are like, ‘Oh, I was over with it. It will come.’

“Hopefully you get lucky enough to rehab well and be pain-free. If you really want it, you’re going to get it at some point. Maybe not tonight. But it was my night tonight, so I’ll take it.”

Tomljanovic was off the tour for the better part of a year because of knee surgery.

“I’m just super-happy,” she said. “I mean, I really didn’t think at 1-4 in the third, two breaks down, it was going to happen. It felt so up and down. I knew if I just kept snagging games, I might find myself in a position of not being so far off. I mean, when it’s tight in the third, it can go either way.

“The crowd really pulled me through. I mean, staying so late. There was a few kids behind me, every change of ends, saying things that were just so cute. I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to give it a go.’”

Five Australians are in action on a blockbuster day four at the Open: Alex de Minaur versus Matteo Arnaldi; Jordan Thompson versus Stefanos Tsitsipas; Alexei Popyrin versus Novak Djokovic; Storm Hunter versus Laura Siegemund and Chris O’Connell against Ben Shelton. Elsewhere, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, US Open champion Coco Gauff and World No.4 Jannik Sinner are having a hit.