Ajla Tomljanovic will turn her attention to trying to launch another deep Wimbledon run after letting slip a match-winning advantage in a tough first-round loss at Roland-Garros.
Tomljanovic – who needed a wildcard to make the main draw after a torrid run of setbacks in the past two years – won the first set over Australian Open semi-finalist and No.30 seed Dayana Yastremska then held triple break point before the match took a vicious turn.
Ajla Tomljanovic started strong, winning the first set over No.30 seed Dayana Yastremska.Credit:
The Ukrainian ball-basher escaped that dire situation before breaking Tomljanovic from 40-0 in the seventh game of the second set on her way to a rollercoaster 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Another Australian, Aleks Vukic, followed Tomljanovic out of the tournament soon after, losing 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to China’s Zhizhen Zhang. Jordan Thompson is the only other Australian in action on the opening day, facing Germany’s Maximilian Marterer.
Eight other Aussies, led by 11th-seeded Alex de Minaur, will begin their Roland-Garros campaign across the next two days. Thanasi Kokkinakis was the sole Australian to make it beyond the second round last year, and drew countryman Alexei Popyrin in his 2024 opener.
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It was not the first time Yastremska reversed her fortunes mid-match against Tomljanovic, having rallied from 5-2 down in the final set to beat the Australian in the Thailand Open final five years ago.
Yastremska, whose 32 winners doubled Tomljanovic’s tally, had never won a match at the French Open in four previous attempts but a seven-game streak from 2-3 in the second set saw her grab control for good.
Tomljanovic will be disappointed not to have capitalised, particularly after holding three consecutive break points in the fourth game of the second set after two Yastremska double faults, but showed signs of fatigue as her opponent aggressively hit her way out of trouble.
Source Agencies
