Ajla Tomljanovic will reignite a fierce rivalry with grand slam champion Jelena Ostapenko in a bumper night of action at the Australian Open.
Ostapenko has won two of the pair’s three encounters, with Tomljanovic’s win at Wimbledon in 2021 involving a feisty confrontation at the net.
Tomljanovic is looking to return to the form that saw her make back-to-back major quarterfinals in 2022 before injury wiped out the majority of her 2023 campaign.
Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >
Joker sends young Aussie packing | 02:38
Speaking on Channel 9, Casey Dellacqua said while Tomljanovic had tried to downplay the feud, tonight was a match she would be desperate to win.
“It seems like they have resolved it, but we’ll soon see when we get out on court and they fight it out again,” Dellacqua said.
“Let’s put it this way — I think she’s going to want to win so bad. When you’ve had a bit of a disagreement with a player, of course it’s in the back of your mind.
“I think what Ajla has to do if focus on process and think about what she does well. If she tries and gets caught up too much in that… if you get sucked into her antics it puts you off your game.”
Preceding her is fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, who also had to brave a tight deciding set to get through the first round.
Kokkinakis will face Grigor Dimitrov, with the Bulgarian in the best form of his career.
On Rod Laver Arena, last year’s Australian Open finalist Elena Rybakina will kick off action against top 60 players Anna Blinkova.
She’ll be followed by another former Australian Open finalist, with Daniil Medvedev taking on Emil Ruusuvuori.
Eighth seed Holger Rune is also in action, along with two-time champion Victoria Azarenka.
KOKKINAKIS vs DIMITROV
Kokkinakis was broken early in the opening set of his match against Dimitrov.
The Australian looked visibly frustrated towards his box moreso than he did for large stages of his first round clash, as Dimitrov outpowered and manoeuvred his opponent around the court with ease.
Dimitrov faced the prospect of being broken back in his following game but held firm, with Kokkinakis also stepping up to the plate to avoid going down a double break.
NIGHT 5 ORDER OF PLAY
ROD LAVER ARENA
Not before 7pm
No.3 Elena Rybakina (KAZ) vs Anna Blinkova (RUS)
Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) vs No.3 Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
MARGARET COURT ARENA
Not before 7pm
No.8 Holger Rune (DEN) vs Arthur Cazaux (FRA)
Clara Tauson (DEN) vs No.18 Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
JOHN CAIN ARENA (from 11am)
Not before 4pm: No.13 Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)
Not before 7pm: No.11 Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) vs Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS)
Follow the Australian Open in our LIVE BLOG below! Can’t see the blog? Tap here
Discussion about this post