Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović has come achingly close to claiming the biggest scalp of her career, falling just short against world number two Simona Halep in their Australian Open second-round clash.
Key points:
- Tomljanović served for the match when she led 5-3 in the third set
- Halep won five consecutive games to claim victory over the Australian
- Naomi Osaka recorded a 6-2, 6-3 win over Caroline Garcia
Tomljanović served for the match at 5-3 in the third set, but the reigning Wimbledon champion steamed back to win five games in a row to secure a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory on Margaret Court Arena.
It was a high-quality contest that lasted two hours and 34 minutes.
The 72nd-ranked Tomljanović used her big groundstrokes to pummel the Romanian, who was an Australian Open semi-finalist last year and runner-up in 2018, but fell agonisingly short.
Tomljanović has long craved a big-name win and a strong performance at her home major, where she has never made it past the second round.
Her best-ever showing at a major was a round-four appearance at the French Open back in 2014.
She looked to have Halep, who is coached by Australian Darren Cahill, on the ropes when she broke in the third set and served for the match.
But the pressure got to the 27-year-old and she saw her lead slip away as former world number one Halep grew in belief.
“I was not that positive (at 5-2) but I think mentally I was a little bit stronger than her,” Halep said.
“I had the desire to win the match and didn’t want to give up.”
Halep said she knew the danger that Tomljanović presented despite the Australian’s lack of success at the majors.
“I was expecting that she would play very hard and very strong,” Halep said.
“I expected it to be a difficult match but it was more than I thought.
“But I’m really happy that I can smile now.”
Osaka through to second round
Earlier in the evening session, third seed Naomi Osaka posted a regulation straight-sets victory.
Osaka, who won the title at Melbourne Park in 2019, was in full control of her 6-2, 6-3 win over France’s Caroline Garcia.
The reigning US Open champion next faces world number 30 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.
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After taking just 61 minutes to secure the win against Garcia, Osaka said she was satisfied with her display.
“It felt good,” Osaka said.
“It’s really hard to play opponents like her because you never know what she’s going to do and how hard she’s going to hit.”
More to come.
ABC/AAP
