Home crowd inspires Ajla Tomljanović to late-night Australian Open comeback

A late night, crowd-inspired comeback has carried Ajla Tomljanović to victory over Croatian Petra Martić in the first round of the Australian Open, after the local favourite rallied from 4-1 down in the deciding set.

The Australian eventually won 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 in a marathon match that finished past midnight at Melbourne Park, highlighted by an extraordinary 26-point game that dragged the duration of the first set to 73 minutes.

The victory means Tomljanović has now made the second round at Melbourne Park five times, and secures a milestone in the 30-year-old’s return from knee injury that curtailed her 2023 season.

“I just really want to enjoy this moment because it’s a big one,” she said.

Twelve months ago the Australian went under the knife in a bid to save her career.

“You just never know, the knee never feels the same. So you’ve got to almost find a new way to approach your career,” she said.

“And being 30 years of age is different, your body’s different, you don’t know how it’s going to react, so there were some dark moments.”

Her knee was tested during the desperate struggle against her long-time friend, whom she has known since her teenage years.

“I really was out at one point,” she said to the fans afterwards, who had stayed for the finish of the final match of the tournament’s first round.

“I felt like she was kind of toying with me and I couldn’t read her serve, but 4-1 down, double break, you guys never gave up – even more than me – so I was like, ‘if you’re here I should give it my best’.”

Tomljanović had handed the impetus to her opponent as the match stretched into its third hour, struggling to hold serve and failing to convert chances in the deciding set.

After double-faulting to give Martić a 4-1 lead, her prospects looked dire. But she found renewed confidence in her groundstrokes, and turned the match around one final time.

The crowd had already seen Thanasi Kokkinakis survive a five-setter earlier in the evening, and by the latter stages, the mostly empty stands could only deliver an “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” chant at half speed. But their perseverance was rewarded in an extraordinary night on John Cain Arena.

“I felt like I really had to hang in there because I knew it could turn on a dime,” Tomljanović said. “I mean, look, there’s a bit of luck involved tonight, and I’ll take it.”

If the late turnaround was memorable, few will forget a remarkable first set. The Australian had two set points at 5-4, but she couldn’t convert, leaving the players on a knife-edge. At the stage, the clock read 36 minutes.

The next game featured 10 deuces, and one interruption for a seagull, across 19 minutes. On and on the set went, until Tomljanović finally took the tiebreak, 37 minutes after she missed her first set point opportunity.

The closeness of the contest might have been predicted, given the pair share much in common. Both athletic right-handers, at the same height give or take a centimentre, were born less than two years apart in Croatia (although 32-year-old Martić was born before Croatian secession from Yugoslavia).

The pair’s relationship goes back to their childhood, when Martić played with Tomljanović’s older sister.

“I feel like when you share memories from a young age it’s a different bond,” the naturalised Australian said.

They have both returned from career-threatening injuries, and each one is a proven top 50 player and second-week threat in the grand slams.

Their careers also progressed in parallel and they first met in 2010 at Indian Wells.

On that occasion, Martić won in straight sets, but fourteen years later, this memorable chapter to their journeys ended in the younger player’ favour.

“I wouldn’t say I’m sad obviously,” Tomljanović said. “I’m happy, but kind of wish it wasn’t her.”

After her late night heroics, the Australian is due to play doubles with countrywoman Daria Saville on Wednesday, before her second round clash against 11th-seed Jelena Ostapenko the following day.

Tomljanović and the Latvian clashed in 2021 over Ostapenko’s use of a medical timeout, but the Australian said the pair have moved on and she respects her as a tennis player.

“In that moment, I just reacted, we never spoke about it. But yeah, we’re both going to be competitive, that’s for sure.”

Storm Hunter – the only other Australian left in the women’s singles – meets German Laura Siegemund in her second round clash on Wednesday.

In 2023, Olivia Gadecki and Kim Birrell progressed to the second round. Both were eliminated from this year’s tournament in straight sets on Tuesday.