By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Saturday, June 22, 2024
Ajla Tomljanovic topped seventh-seeded Anastasia Potapova 7-6(5), 6-4 today and will face Yulia Putintseva for the Birmingham title on Sunday.
Photo credit: Cameron Smith Getty for LTA
Racing across the lawn, Ajla Tomljanovic continues an impressive revival run.
Pounding deep strikes off both wings, Tomljanovic stopped seventh-seeded Anastasia Potapova 7-6(5), 6-4 powering into her fifth final on the grass of Birmingham.
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Playing her first Tour-level semifinal since 2019, Tomljanovic served 70 percent, won 75 percent of her first-serve points and faced just one break point in a composed 90-minute victory.
"For me, grass court tennis is meant to be played in the UK," Tomljanovic said in her on-court interview. "So I love coming back. I love having the same swing."
It is Tomljanovic’s first Tour-level final since the 2019 Hua Hin. She sealed it scoring her 50th Top 50 career win.
World No. 190 Tomljanovic will play for her maiden WTA title against Yulia Putintseva in the Birmingham final tomorrow.
Earlier, Putintseva played sharp angles effectively sweeping Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-2, 6-2 in one hour, 27 minutes.
Putintseva converted six of 10 break points beating the 44th-ranked Italian for the second time in as many meetings.
Today’s first semifinal was a rematch of the Hobart first round last January, which saw Putintseva rally for an 0-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) victory.
A 2023 knee surgery disrupted Tomljanovic’s season last year.
Last February, Tomljanovic announced she would be putting her tennis career on hold after undergoing surgery to remove non-cancerous tumors from her uterus.
“Hello everyone, unfortunately, I won’t be competing for a couple of weeks … was very much looking forward to the next hard court events,” Tomljanovic said in an Instagram post accompanied by a photo of her flashing a peace sign from a hospital bed.
“I had to get some uterine fibroids removed and will be watching from home while healing. Will be back soon.”
Contesting her fourth tournament since that surgery, Tomljanovic has played assertive baseline tennis throughout this final run.
The 31-year-old Aussie arrived in Birmingham ranked No. 190 and has leaped to No. 135 in the live rankings after knocking off Anna Blinkova, Lin Zhu, Leylah Fernandez and Potapova.
World No. 41 Putintseva has won four of five meetings vs. Tomljanovic. Putintseva is playing for her third career title, including her first championship since the 2021 Budapest.
Tomljanovic is bidding to become the third Aussie woman to win Birmingham after Ashleigh Barty (2019) and Jelena Dokic (2002).