Monday Recap: Ajla Tomljanovic Shines in ATX Open Debut

Fan favorite Ajla Tomljanovic made a smashing debut at the ATX Open on Monday, defeating seventh-seeded Katie Volynets, 7-6(3), 7-5 in the opening round. Tomljanovic, the 31-year-old wild card from Australia, opened the match with a break and served for the first set at 5-4, but neither player ever seemed in control. Tomljanovic took a 3-1 lead in the tiebreak and won the last four points to win the set. Volynets, ranked No. 63,  led by 3-1 in the second set and had break points at 5-5 to serve for the set. Tomljanovic held on and then broke at love to win the match, finishing it off with a forehand winner down the line. 

“I got so tired at one point that I thought I really don’t wanna play a third set,” Tomljanovic said with a smile in her post-match interview. The Australian, currently ranked No. 111 as she rejoins the tour after injuries and illness, gave props to her 23-year-old opponent and the city of Austin.

“I’ve known Katie for a long time,” she said. “I forget how young she is ’cause she’s been so good for so long already. The one thing I know is when I saw the draw is that I’m going to have a battle with her … She never gives up.” 

“This is a really big one for me,” she added, “so I’m really thrilled to be through here in Austin ’cause I love this place.”

Then Tomljanovic really poured on the love.

“It’s my first time at this event, but my first international event as a 9-year-old was in Austin, Texas,” she said. “So this place has really cool memories for me, and this is my third or fourth time back. I really, really love the city and the people. There’s no place like it, really, and it’s on my list to maybe explore in the future and see if I could move my family here.”

Another wild card, Mailaka Rapolu, had a much tougher time on Center Court. The Spanish veteran Nuria Parrizas Diaz was the 6-2, 6-4 winner over Rapolu, a Longhorn alum making her WTA Tour debut after winning a wildcard as the champion of the Dropshot Series H-E-B Women’s Pro Tennis Open, a USTA Pro Circuit/ITF World Tour event, on the University of Texas campus. The two players exchanged four breaks in the second set before Parrizas-Diaz, 33 and ranked No. 107, won the last eight points of the match.

The first match of Day 1 had drama, controversy and an upset. Isabella Haverlag of the Netherlands and Alicja Rosolska of Poland defeated the second-seeded doubles team of American Caroline Dolehide and Australian Storm Hunter, 5-7, 6-3, 11-9, in the championship tiebreak, played in lieu of a third set in doubles. Haverlag and Rosolska had served for the first set before Dolehide and Hunter rallied. In the championship tiebreak, Dolehide and Hunter took a 7-0 lead before their opponents worked their way back. Dolehide and Hunter were leading by 8-6 when the chair umpire called a touch on the team, which the two vehemently disputed. They still earned two match points at 9-7 but lost the last four points of the tiebreak. Hunter is a former No. 1 doubles player who was appearing in her first tournament since rupturing an Achilles tendon during practice at the Billie Jean King Cup last April. The third-seeded team, Oksana Kalashnikova and Kamilla Rakhimova also lost in a third-set tiebreaker, falling to Greet Minnen and Arantxa Rus, 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.

Lastly, Yue Yuan failed to defend her ATX Open title as  Kimberly Birrell of Australia squeaked by her, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). Birrell, a 76th-ranked Australian, had served for the match but held her nerve in the tiebreak.