AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 13, 2025

Ajla Tomljanovic

Press Conference

A. TOMLJANOVIC/A. Krueger

6-4, 4-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Ajla, congratulations on progressing to the next round. How do you rate your performance today?

AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Yeah, actually I was really happy with today. Having played her a week ago, I felt like I knew a bit more coming in. Honestly, these matchups are a little tricky for me. I feel like we play very similarly.

But I think considering how I felt going in, a bit unsure, but really excited because I felt like I had a really good training week. Just am so happy to get the win.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in the room, please.

Q. How important was it for you to avenge that loss to Ash at Adelaide last week?

AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Yeah, I don't like to get too down in head-to-heads. So I did think about it during the match. I was, like, I don't want to go 0-2 against a good player like her, but still, I don't like seeing a big gap when I play certain players.

But it wasn't much of a thing. I just wanted to win my first round here.

Q. I'm just curious to know, obviously you've had massive injury problems over the last couple of years. Was there ever a point where you thought or maybe feared that you had played your last Australian Open?

AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: I am definitely getting to a stage where I try to cherish it a lot more than before, but I think in my dark moments, yes, but I think the reason I'm still here is because I always kind of, the last thought is always a positive one.

So I think my knee has given me a lot of trouble, but I think I've tried to find so many solutions over the last two years, and I definitely feel like I'm on the other side or getting close to it.

So that just gives me a lot of satisfaction because I didn't give up. It can still give me trouble sometimes, but I do feel like it's on the up. To still be here after two years, you think I would get it right all the way, but something that's a bit tricky to mend. I just have to give myself props for not really throwing the towel in.

Q. How much do you think about the knee when you are on court? Is it something you think about when you are playing?

AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: I thought about it a lot last year, but I must say, like today, zero. If I get on the stretch, and I feel like maybe I'm not strong from the corner, I'm, like, oh, okay, I need to get stronger there, but there's absolutely zero pain.

That's a big reason I think that I can play really free today and really get close to my best level in the moment.

Q. Can I ask what you make of the young Australian women coming through and whether you have had much contact with them?

AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Not too much. I haven't spoken to them a lot, but I said congrats to Emerson, and I met Maya Joint for the first time in I think it was in Mérida (phonetic) then at BJK Cup. It's just really a good group of girls on and off the court.

I always get more impressed when they're just really nice off the court as well. I think it's really important to have both. I think Aussie tennis is kind of in an exciting chapter, because there's a lot of young ones coming through. I think that middle is getting to their prime in a way, like Kim Birrell having a bit of a breakthrough too.

So, yeah, it's cool to see.

Q. With your ranking obviously lower than it should be, is there a balance between kind of chasing points to get the ranking up so you get seeded in events and looking after your body at this stage of your career? How do you juggle that?

AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Yeah, I pretty much made a mistake at the end of last year where I really wanted to -- it was a big goal of mine to come in here and not need a wild card. I think I got so close to it, and I chased a lot in Asia. It kind of backfired because my knee didn't hold up. I just realized I just can't be chasing. I have to listen to my body and not really play more than three events in a row and just prioritize my off weeks where I have to keep my strength up, because that's just the stage of my career I'm in.

I think it will give me more confidence when I go into events knowing that I'm fully ready instead of being maybe halfway there.

So to answer your question, no, I'm not going to chase points this year at all. If I have to play a few more quallies matches in events, that's okay. I've done it before.

You know, I think with my level, hopefully I can even with maybe a lighter -- not a lighter schedule, a smarter schedule, I can still get to hopefully at some point to a seeded position, but I feel like I'm in a way far away from it. So I'm trying to take care of the steps before that.

Q. Ajla, it seems like you're reflecting a bit about your career before. Saying maybe being closer to the end than the start. The second round has always been a bit of a hump for you here. How significant is this next match for you, do you feel?

AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Of course, I would think it is, but at the end of the day I want to make second weeks, not third rounds. So I'm not going to put too much pressure on it.

I know that I'm coming up against someone that's a really tricky player. She's seeded. She's won so many matches last year.

So, yeah, I would love to get through and kind of make a new memory of reaching, getting over that second-round hump. It's also not really in my head as much as it probably should be because I know I haven't had a great track record in the second rounds here, but it's not for lack of trying or giving it my all.

Yeah, I'm not going to think about past outcomes here.

Q. How were you able to wrestle back the momentum in the third set after obviously dropping that second set, being a break up? How were you able to come out and get to a 4-love lead pretty early on?

AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Yeah, I felt like in the second set in the 4-3 game I kind of stopped going for it. I think when you are matching up against someone like her, if you give her the edge, it's going to be really tough for me to win.

So I just went into that third set thinking, Okay, I lost playing the wrong way, which is being a bit more defensive, so I have to be the one dictating. I kind of like when I'm able to sit on the bench and have a few minutes. She took a bathroom break, so I had a bit more time to really think about what went wrong and know that it's really crucial to make those adjustments early on in the third set.

I think that first game went on for quite a while. It really set the tone for the third set. I mean, look, she got back into that match. It's just the game she plays. You can't kind of rest for a second because she wins games quickly sometimes. You really have to be on your toes and just focus on what you have got to do.

Q. When you have been at your best, obviously you've been in the quarterfinals at slams. I'm just curious to know how you compare your level today, for example, to when you made those quarterfinals appearances?

AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: It's really hard for me to compare it. Someone told me something cool because I used to compare it a lot in the last years. I'm like, Oh, I'm not where I used to be. Someone said, Actually your level is getting back to where you were, but the thing is tennis went forward, so you are kind of playing catchup to your old self and tennis being better because everyone is getting better.

That was a cool way for me to look at it because it's a more positive outlook on, well, no, you're not casing who you used to be, you're trying to get better overall. That took a while to look at it that way because I think it's really negative to be, like, Oh, I don't feel like I used to feel, because that's in the past. I'm just trying to create kind of 2.0 or 3.0 Ajla.

Q. You seem like you're in a really good head space. Is there anything you're doing differently off the court this year, people around you? Why do you seem so positive at the moment?

AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: I don't know. A few people have told me that.

I think after BJK Cup, I realized I kind of had a bad fall there. My knee got worse, and I just felt like I struggled so much last year putting a lot of expectation on myself and in an unfair way.

My knee wasn't cooperating. I had good weeks, bad weeks, and I couldn't put it together. I felt so exhausted at one point. It just didn't seem fair to myself. I just thought if I can go into, even starting December, I felt like I need to really make the best of everything because attitude really is powerful. You've got to provoke your luck as well.

I thought that I could at this age with a bit of wisdom try something new and help myself, because I can get pretty negative. Not because I'm a negative person. Just I think because I ask a lot of myself, and I thought that maybe this year I could be just a bit more encouraging instead of always telling myself what I did wrong.