After overcoming her sadness, Ajla Tomljanović is confident that she can achieve great things this summer as she returns to the tennis world and works towards correcting the setbacks of her discouraging 10-month absence from the sport.
After being sidelined due to a knee injury during the Australian Open last year, Tomljanović is now back and in high spirits, ready to compete for a first-time grand slam seeding in Melbourne.
The player who has reached the quarter-finals of three grand slam tournaments will have to rely on a protected ranking to qualify for the main draw of the Open. However, she is determined to reach the top once again after gaining confidence in her mobility following a surgery in January.
“I am confident that I can return to the level of competing for major championships if I am able to regain my health. In fact, I believe I am already there,” Tomljanović stated during a Wednesday interview. “There may be a remaining 15 percent that I need to improve upon, but I believe it is attainable.”
The Florida-based, Croatian-born talent was flying before injury struck her down, becoming the first Australian since the great Evonne Goolagong in 1979 to reach the Wimbledon and US Open quarter-finals in the same season. She also famously ended Serena Williams’ incomparable career in New York to crown a heady 14 months.
Although she still feels frustrated about potentially losing some of her prime years, Tomljanović is now motivated by a strong dose of perspective to make a comeback. This newfound perspective came after a “scary” realization that her career could come to an end.
“I’d be lying if this year there haven’t been random moments where I was with my team and I’m like, ‘this is just so unlucky what happened because I was at my best and I got so unlucky’,’’ Tomljanović said. “You can’t control this injury, and the doubt and the fear was always that maybe this will be it.
“But I can’t live in the past, and I felt stupid calling it unfair when there were wars happening in the world and kids dying. So I very quickly got it out of my system. I just want to accept it and move forward and just believe that if I get healthy I can still play my best tennis. And if I didn’t think that, I probably wouldn’t keep trying.”
Tomljanović, who will be 31 years old in May, is confident that she still has time on her side. This is because in the world of professional sports, 40 is often considered the new 30, thanks to advances in diet and science.
She stated that despite being 30 years old, she doesn’t feel like it. She acknowledged that her body may reveal her true age, but due to some minor obstacles throughout the years, she still feels mentally youthful.
Ignore the advertisement for the newsletter.
after newsletter promotion
Tomljanović will begin the summer season by leading Australia’s United Cup team in Perth starting on December 29th. She will be playing alongside top players such as men’s world No 12 Alex de Minaur, women’s doubles world No 1 Storm Hunter, and former US Open quarter-finalist John Millman, who is retiring. Tomljanović is confident that Australia, who were finalists in both the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup within the last year, can progress from a challenging group that includes defending champions the US and Great Britain.
Regardless, she will complete her preparations for the Australian Open at the Adelaide International from January 8-13.
As the early summer approaches, Tomljanović expresses optimism for potential opportunities. While it would be incredible to reach the quarterfinals or beyond in Melbourne, she is also looking forward to simply playing and embracing the excitement of being part of these events. She acknowledges that her performance on the court is unpredictable and she is approaching it with a childlike enthusiasm.
Source: theguardian.com
