By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday September 5, 2022
Flushing Meadows, NY—Ajla Tomljanovic braved the New York night and came away with the victory that has likely ended the legendary career of Serena Williams on Friday night in New York.
Now the Aussie is riding the confidence gained to a career-best US Open performance.
She battled past Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova, 7-6(8), 6-1 in Louis Armstrong Stadium on Sunday night to set a quarterfinal clash with fifth-seeded Ons Jabeur.
It has been a strong season for Tomljanovic, a 29-year-old powerhouse that is coming into her own late in her career.
She saved eight of ten break points against Samsonova, including seven set points in a marathon game at 4-5 in the opening set, which turned the match.
She would race away from there, winning 11 of the final 13 games to take down one of the hottest players in the women’s game.
Samsonova was riding a 13-match winning streak ahead of Sunday’s tilt.
Tomljanovic has now reached consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals for the first time.
“Just feels really good to back up a win that I think got a lot of attention,” Tomljanovic said. “Just felt like it's been a really big 48 hours. I didn't really feel like myself today the whole day. I don't know, just felt a little bit drained. After that slow start, I just didn't want to go out like that.
“Picked myself up, fought back really hard, played some quality tennis after that.”
Tomljanovic said that her victory over Serena Williams on Friday – and the aftermath – was a draining affair. But it left her hungry to prove herself and make it count. In seven eight career appearances in New York prior to this year she had only reached beyond the second round once, and never past that.
“It's been a little tough just because a lot of people came up to me personally,” she said. “That felt really nice. At the same time it did drain my energy a little bit.
“But I think my will to go further in this tournament was really strong and I didn't want to stop just after what happened on Friday night. I thought I deserved more. I definitely wanted to go for more.
“I dug deep because I felt like I had more left in me.”