Still, it wasn’t easy for him to watch as Williams was in tears after Tomljanovic’s 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1 win at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night.
“Probably the struggle I felt the most after a win. During the match I was so eager to win. I mean, I wanted to win as much as the next guy, because I didn’t look at him like, ‘Oh, Serena, her last tournament,” said 29-year-old Australian Tomljanovic, who is ranked 46th.
“But then, when it ended, it didn’t feel nearly right,” Tomljanovic said. “When he started talking about his family and everything, I got emotional, because I can relate to a strong bond with your family. He would be there if it wasn’t for them when he said No, I relate to that a lot. The whole moment after that was just a little bit hard to handle.”
Credit Tomljanovic for maintaining his composure during the match, never letting Williams’ stroke or aura get too big.
Tomljanovic did his best work at the baseline, hanging out there on long exchanges with Williams and as big a hitter as he came with big groundstrokes. And then there was this: Tomljanovic fell by at least one break in each set, which included 5-3 in the first, 4-0 and 5-2 in the second, and 1-0 in the third.
He needed six match points to finish it, but he pulled it off.
“I tried,” Williams said, “but Azla played a little better.”
Williams, as everyone knows, is the owner of 23 Grand Slam titles – including six at the US Open alone – and that doesn’t even include women’s doubles or mixed doubles.
Tomljanovic?
He started the evening with a 28-31 losing record in Grand Slam matches. He had never won a third round match at Flushing Meadows until Friday. He has yet to win a quarterfinal match in any major tournament; Her major breakthrough in that round came at Wimbledon last year, when she beat Emma Radukanu to get there (two months later Radukanu would go on to win the US Open).
Tomljanovic returned to the quarter-finals at the All England Club this July, and now she has a chance to go so far in New York if she can beat 35th-ranked Lyudmila Samsonova on Sunday.
However, it can be hard to forget Friday and all that happened.
Start with a sell-out crowd of 23,859, wholly backing Williams, who turns 41 this month and announced last month that she was preparing to retire. Tomljanovic tried to block out some of the noise, even covering his head with a towel during the change.
Tomljanovic understood the excitement. Actually, he apologized to the audience for his win – not something you hear every day.
But here’s why: She also considers herself a fan of Williams, and has fond memories of watching American drama at the Slam finals on TV.
“What she has achieved is absolutely incredible. I don’t know if it’s ever going to be repeated while I’m still around,” Tomljanovic said. “I still have years left. I want to dream bigger than I ever dreamed, because that’s what it is.”
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